Forever In Our Hearts I: Makoto and Nephrite
by Cynthia and Emerald J
Summary: Makoto is having dreams about someone she's never met. complete in 6 parts
1. Dreamlover

_**Legal Disclaimer:** Sailor Moon and all related characters aren't ours and never will be. Since we've only seen the DiC version, all names will be those used in that. This takes place in an alternate timeline that branches off after Ann and Alan leave Earth, but before Rubius and all the rest of them show up. Please feel free to e-mail us with flames, praise, or just 'hi'. The praise will be framed, the flames will be used to line our cat litter boxes._

**Dream Lover  
by: Cynthia and Emerald J**

The apartment was naturally spotless, despite the sick condition of the one who lived in it. It would take a lot more than a particularly annoying strain of the flu to stop her from performing her mandatory duties of keeping her home clean and organized. Despite the fact she was currently coughing her lungs out in bed and doing her best to keep herself from hurling up what small amounts of food she'd managed to get down herself, the apartment always came first. Right after homework and saving the world, of course. 

_Hack, hack, hack! _ The sound of her coughing and sneezing were muffled just by the handkerchief she managed to bring up to her face in time and she sighed. _So much for the mighty Soldier of Thunder. I can take on Beryl and her generals, Ann and Alan, and who knows what else, and I don't get so much as a hair out of place. What does it take to get me down? A flu bug. There is no justice._

She sighed again, closing her eyes briefly and pondering trying to sleep. Not just for the rest, but for the chance that she might dream again. Dream. . .of him. Dream of the handsome young man who had filled her mind for years. _ I really need to stop thinking about him. He's just a dream. It was because of him that jerk Freddy broke up with me. _ She bared her teeth mentally at the thought of her ex. Freddy hadn't liked the idea of competing with a dream-guy. Lita was honest enough with herself to admit that she hadn't really loved him anyway. As many cute guys as she followed around, and she had followed around quite a few, she couldn't really find any of them that compared to the one she dreamed of on a regular basis. 

She yawned a little, stretching out in bed and reaching for the book she'd been perusing for the last few nights. _ One Hundred and One Meanings to Dreams._ Maybe if she found out what her subconscious was trying to tell her, then she'd stop having the dreams and could get on with her life. _Of course, if it tells me that I should go find this guy. .._she chuckled to herself. She'd be out of her house like a streak, flu or no flu. 

"Lita." The voice was soft, musical, and caressed her ear. Her head came up as if on a string, seeking the corner where it had emanated from. 

He was flawless. Tall, with dark hair that came to his shoulders and wearing casual clothing. He was also transparent, as if he wasn't actually there. But Lita couldn't stop staring at him, her eyes nearly popping out of her head. 

"Y. .you?" he nodded slowly and she slid out of bed to stare at him. The first question that came to her mind was one she'd wondered forever. "What is your name?" As often as he had been in her dreams, he had never been able to tell her that, and she wanted to know. Silently he came over to her, gazing into her eyes without speaking for long moments. 

The moment, such as it was, was ruined when she was suddenly overcome by a spasm of coughing. He frowned. "You're sick." 

Lita shrugged. "It's just a cold. I'll be fine." She reached out, wonderingly, her eyes wandering over to him and her hand touched his face gently. The moment contact was made, a sort of ripple passed over him and flesh replaced spirit beneath her fingers. 

"Oh." He smiled a little foolishly, obviously knowing not the first thing about disease. Whatever it was he was, it was not a doctor. 

She curled up, leaning into him as he held her. "If I rest, I will get better." Lita smiled at last, warmth rippling through her at the touch of him on her at last. She didn't question what was going on; she had seen far stranger things in her lifetimes than a ghost who became solid with a touch. She turned her head to look up at him. "I like this. I just wish I knew what to call you." 

He took a long breath. "Neflite." 

"Neflite?" he nodded at her uttering, and seemed to be looking at her for something. She smiled. "I wish you were real." 

"I am." he chuckled a little at the wistful tone in her voice, and tightened the embrace around her. He had waited for so long for this. For her. 

"I meant alive." Lita chuckled, and Neflite looked at her for a moment, then looked away. "What is it?" 

"It can be done." He told her. "It isn't easy, but it can be done." 

Lita frowned. "What? How?" The words tumbled out of her as she turned to look at him, her eyes bright and strong. "How???" 

Neflite sighed. He hadn't meant to say anything. Since his death at the hands of Zoicite and her assassins, he had spent his time not just observing the humans and the minions of the Negaverse, but Lita. He remembered how much he had loved her in the Silver Millennium, before Beryl had torn his heart and soul away from him and twisted him into the monster he had become. _ But I'm free now. Free of those lies. Free to choose what I do. Free to choose who I love._ He smiled briefly at the memories that had come back to him. He would have to talk to Molly when he had a chance. But for now, he had Lita to be with. 

"It isn't easy. Six things have to be gathered, certain tasks performed, and then a rite performed at the proper time to unite their power and I will live again." 

She frowned, looking at him with concentration, thinking. "I can do it. I may need help from Raye, but I think I can do it." Neflite flinched back just the tiniest bit at the uttering of that name. Though Raye hadn't had anything to do with his death, he still had a healthy respect for the Sailor Scouts. "She's my friend. She's going to be a priestess." 

Neflite nodded quietly. "How admirable." 

"Do you know her?" Lita asked, bending her gaze briefly to him. Neflite shrugged just a little. 

"We crossed paths before. It's hard to explain." Lita wasn't taking no for an answer, however, and insisted on hearing what was going on. Finally he sighed. "It's kind of a long story. Could we save it for another time?" 

She frowned. "Okay. But I might just have to ask Raye!" 

Neflite shook his head. "Please, don't." His voice was soft, pleading and careful. He _really_ didn't want her knowing this. At least not yet. 

"Why not?" 

He sighed deeply, looking around her room. "Because it wasn't under the best of circumstances that we met." He went stiff suddenly as he saw the pen sticking out of her purse and sighed to himself. _To say the least._

"Was it because of Beryl?" Lita said softly. The name had struck a chord with her, and then she remembered what the others had told her. When she had told the others about her dreams, Raye, Amy, and Serena had fallen all over themselves telling her about Neflite, and how he had died. She took his hands gently. "I forgive you. Luna explained that you guys were brainwashed." 

His eyes went very wide. If they'd gotten much wider, Lita would have started to bet herself when they fell out of his head. "You. ..know?" 

Lita nodded. "I fought against Zoisite and Malachite," she told him. Then a smile teased at her lips. I also know that when you guys were reborn, Zoisite was born the wrong sex." 

Neflite chuckled. When they had fought against the original Silver Millennium, Zoisite had been a man. In their current incarnation, he had become a she, and had hated it from the moment she became aware of her past. "She always hated that too." 

"I can imagine." Lita smiled a little. She would've been somewhat annoyed if she were reborn as a man herself. "They told me that you were good at the end. That you died trying to protect Molly." 

Neflite nodded, smiling. "She woke the good up in me again. She's very special." 

"There is something in her," Lita murmured. She'd felt many times that there was more to Molly than met the eye. She glanced over at the man holding her. 

"Is something wrong?" he shook his head and Lita smiled, cuddling back against him. "Maybe Raye would be open to trying to help me bring you back." 

Neflite smiled weakly. "I don't know." He watched as Lita reached over and picked her phone up; it wasn't too late, thank Jupiter. She quickly dialed the number and waited for her friend to answer. 

"Hello," Raye spoke quietly on the other end of the phone. Lita coughed a little. 

"Gotta problem I need your help with," Lita told her. Quickly she explained what was going on, and she could almost see the blood draining out of Raye's face. 

"What's going on?!? Are you okay?" Raye asked, practically jumping up. Lita coughed again. 

"I'm fine, except for the flu. It's his ghost here, and we've been talking." 

Raye looked around. "I'm coming over." 

"Thanks," Lita sounded very happy, and Raye was just hoping that she knew what she was doing. "I'm needing your help badly." 

Despite not having changed to her superheroine form of Sailor Mars, Raye made it over to Lita's in under two minutes, complete with everything she normally took along for casting out evil spirits. She knew what Lita had said, but she wasn't going to take any chances. As she came in, thankful Lita had given her a key because of her illness, her fellow Scout smiled at her. 

"Hi!" 

Raye nodded quietly. "What's going on?" the two of them were holding one another on the bed, both fully clothed, with Lita still looking somewhat rough around the edges due to her illness. 

Lita smiled. "Raye, this is the guy that I've been having the dreams about." 

"Huh?" 

Jupiter's Scout smiled as she held Neflite's hand. "Remember those dreams? He's the one." She turned to gaze into his eyes, and Raye couldn't help both being glad for her friend, and somewhat jealous. Lita handed her a list. "I have to do all of these things to bring him back." As Raye looked down at it, Lita sighed. "It's number four that worried me. I don't have a sister in this life!" The fourth item was to rebuild the bond with Lita's sister, and that truly worried the young woman. "She could be anyone. ..and maybe _even_ a he!" 

Raye nodded. "Maybe Luna and Artemis can help us find whoever they are." 

"I hope so." Lita smiled. "We can do the others, can't we?" 

Raye glanced over the list again, then looked back at Neflite. Despite all he'd done, she had seen how he had changed at the end, and she couldn't deny the looks of love between her and him. "We'll give it our best."_ Lucky her. Lucky him. Lucky Darien and Serena. Why can't I find someone? Guess I'll have to settle for helping them get together._

"Everything has to be done after I return to being a ghost," Neflite told her. Raye nodded. 

"We'll see what we can do to get things set up," she promised. Lita leaned back, cuddling into Neflite's arm as if she were afraid to let go. The beautiful moment was spoiled suddenly an explosion of coughing from her. 

"Take medicine." he advised, looking over at the pile of cough remedies by the bed. 

She half-glared at him. "I did!" she was practically stuffed to the gills with the various liquids! She was surprised she could even talk, since most of them made one drowsy. It was possible that being in love did that sort of thing, she guessed. She twisted herself around to gaze into his eyes for long moments, replete with peace and happiness at last. 

Raye cleared her throat briefly. "I'll get everything set up. Maybe the others can help me." 

"Would they?" Neflite wondered. He knew that Serena and Amy might believe in his reformation, but Darien and Mina might have a more difficult time, since they had not participated in any of the events surrounding it. 

Raye shrugged. "Doubt it, but I can try." Without another word, she left, her mind focused now on doing what she had to do. She would do anything to make her friends happy. She always had. 

Lita smiled, and after an extended bout of kissing with Neflite, curled up with her head in his lap. "Tell me what you did when you were reborn?" she asked. "Before you were found again by Beryl." 

"All right." Neflite began to tell her about the life of a young Maxfield Stanton, the name he had not just used in his illicit adventures in the human world, but which was his name in his current life, the name the parents of his physical body had given him, as Neflite was the name that the parents of his last life had given him. As it grew late, Lita yawned, her exhaustion starting to catch up with her. 

"Let's get some sleep." She suggested and he nodded slowly. "Only one problem, though. I've only got one bed." 

Neflite stretched, standing up. "I can sleep on the floor." He offered. It wasn't the most comfortable place in the world, but it would do nicely enough. 

"No," she shook her head. "Come on." At the look in his eyes she smiled. "Come on!" she arranged them both on the bed, her under the blankets and him on top of them. Both of them closed their eyes, but Neflite had one last thing to say. 

"Thank you." 

"For what?" she wondered. 

"Being you." 

* * *

Several hours earlier, at Raye's temple, after she returned from Lita's, an impromptu meeting of the Scouts had been called. The Scout of Mars told her friends quickly just what it was that had happened over at Lita's. Serena, amazingly, was the first to speak. "Lita is doing _what_?" 

Raye sighed. "She's going to try and bring Neflite back to life. She's in love with him." 

"She can't _possibly_ be serious!" Serena shook her head and looked at Darien, who had come with her to the meeting. They stole every possible chance they had to be together, feeling they'd been apart for too long. 

Raye shook her head. "She is very serious." 

"She does know how dangerous Neflite is, right?" Amy asked, frowning slightly. She had come close to their enemy's power quite a lot, and remembered it vividly. Raye nodded. 

"I think so." 

Darien listened intently. He had not known Neflite that well, being too involved in fighting him, but he had heard from Raye, Amy, and Serena how he had seemed to change before his death. "Maybe she feels that he's changed?" 

"Could be." Raye nodded, remembering the look in Lita's eyes, one of purest love. "He was kind of different towards the end, anyway." 

Mina shrugged. "I say give him a chance." The Scout of Love was always all for love! 

"He's still dangerous in my opinion," was the surprising remark from Serena. Raye gave her a look. 

"I thought you were the one who always believed in giving people second chances," she said. Serena nodded, then yawned. Raye chuckled to herself; Serena _always_ got a bit peckish when she was tired! 

"I know. And I will. I'm just worried that she's not thinking straight because she's sick." 

Raye shrugged. "We'll all keep an eye on him, just in case." She wasn't wholly convinced of Neflite's sincerity, but she did believe that Lita believed in it. 

Darien's suggestion to Serena's worry was simple. "Why don't we wait until she gets well and then see what she feels?" 

"It'll be too late for him by then." Raye explained. Darien frowned. 

"Then we'll do what we can for him, and hope." 

Amy nodded. "It's all we can do." Raye sighed, and Amy turned her mind towards business. "First thing we do is figure out how to do the first thing on the list, or rather, how Lita does it." She looked over the list as Raye held it out again, and blushed a fiery shade of red. "How would you do that?!" 

The priestess shrugged. "Darned if I know." 

"Part of it is kind of gross," Amy knew all about the biological process behind the requirement, but the thought of _doing_ it, at their age, was simply impossible! Serena took a glance at it, then turned even deeper red than Amy was. Darien read over her shoulder, and chuckled. 

"That should be interesting." 

Raye was controlling her own blushing just by sheer will. "To say the least!" 

"I don't even want to get that far with Serena!" he added an unspoken 'yet' to that. One day, when they were married, perhaps. ..and he fully intended on marrying her. "The dancing, maybe, but the rest of it is going to wait till we're married." Serena agreed emphatically. 

"Let's sleep on this one," Amy decided. "And we can meet with them tomorrow and tell them what we came up with, if anything. Maybe my computer can figure something out." 

Raye nodded, getting up. "That sounds like a good idea. See you later, guys!" 

**To Be Continued**


	2. Dancing At Midnight

_**Legal Disclaimer:** We don't own the Scouts. We couldn't if we wanted to. This idea is sort of ours, though._

**Dancing at Midnight  
by: Cynthia and Emerald J**

The morning was clear and bright, the sky a heart-shimmering shade of blue with just the faintest threads of white clouds. Though it was just barely past sunrise, there was already a group of people moving through the streets of Tokyo: a group more used to rising in the dark of night to fight the forces of evil. 

The Sailor Scouts. 

Or rather, their human identities. Darien, Serena, Raye, Amy, and Mina had all managed to get up early, regardless of the late-night meeting they'd had before. It had been, as usual, hard to get Serena up, and Raye wouldn't be all that certain she was awake really. 

_Neither am I, really._ The Warrior of Mars shivered just a little, wondering if they were going to be doing the right thing. She did trust Lita, but the thought of bringing back one of their former greatest enemies did send chills down the young priestess' spine. _We are going to do this, though. I believe he has changed...but this is something that we've never done before. And we have to be sure we not only do this right, but that it's the right thing to do._

Her inner reverie halted as they came up to Lita's door and Serena knocked on it. None were truly surprised when Neflite was the one who opened it, especially when they heard Lita coughing from inside. 

"Come in, please," the ex-Negaverse general motioned them in and shut the door behind them. "Lita hasn't had a chance to make breakfast yet, but we've got some tea made for those who want it." 

True to her nature, Serena perked up almost at once, her wide blue eyes dancing at the mention of anything edible or potable. "I'll have some, please!" 

As they came into the living room, they saw Lita sitting on the couch, coughing into a handkerchief. She weakly raised one hand and waved briefly to them. "Morning," the sick young woman croaked as Neflite headed into the kitchen. Despite having only been there, and solid, for a few hours, he seemed to be rather familiar with the kitchen apparatus, and they heard him clinking about with the tea making equipment. 

Mina stared at the door for a moment, then appeared to come to some sort of decision. Before any of the others could say or do anything, she was up and heading in there. Neflite, clad in that same general's uniform all the others had worn but with some differences that made it unique. She took a quick breath, focusing on what she wanted to say. 

"Hi." _ Good start. Now don't look like an idiot. You've got to let him know some things. _

Neflite turned around briefly, and smiled. She at once understood how he could have captivated Lita's heart so quickly. As the Senshi of Love, she knew better than any of them that this was no fluke or trick going on in here. This was the real and true thing. _Lucky little so and so's._ "Can I help you, Mina?" 

"I just wanted to ask if you really love Lita," that wasn't exactly what she had been thinking about, but it was close enough. Neflite just smiled, seemingly unoffended. 

"With all my heart and soul," the solid ghost replied. "I'd rather die a thousand times than let her be hurt once." 

Mina's eyes widened; it had been quite some time since she'd heard utterings of that sort! "How can you love her when you've only really known her for less than a day?" 

Again he seemed unruffled. "How can Serena and Darien love each other when they barely knew one another? Some things are simply meant to be. I was born for her, and she for me." 

He loaded up the tea cups on a tray and turned towards her. With a patently false, yet somehow amusing English accent, he said, "Tea time?" 

* * *

"Thank you," Raye smiled as she took the tea cup from Neflite and sipped at neatly. "Have you figured out anything more about what you have to do?" 

Lita nodded a little, managing to be able to speak for a few minutes. Her constant coughing was worrying all of them. "We did figure out that the dancing is _just_ dancing. Nothing else." 

The sense of relief in the room was palpable as all the Scouts leaned back in their various chairs and couches. "We'll be doing that at midnight," Neflite continued. "I'm not quite certain just how we're going to pull off the rest of the list, though." 

None of them had asked just how it was he had gained this list, and as they watched him put his arms around Lita in a casual motion, none of them really cared. What mattered was that they could and would pull all of that off. 

Silence reigned for a few minutes, then was suddenly broken by Lita coughing. Everyone stared at her as instead of relaxing after a few minutes, the coughs came harsher, fiercer, and more hacking. Neflite started to rub her back, doing his best to halt the spasms. He reached to the table, picking up the cough medicine and quickly measuring out a dose. He hoped this would work; she had to feel better, or he'd just die! 

Again. 

Slowly she drank the medicine, leaning into his arms as the spasms began to ease off. "T..thank you..." she breathed softly when she was able to again. She closed her eyes for a moment and then looked at him. "I'm going to bed. You guys play nice." 

Serena smiled briefly. "We will." 

Everyone watched as she headed for her room, and Neflite was on her heels. She smiled briefly as he laid a warm blanket on her, tucking it gently around her shoulders. "Go talk to the others," she told him quietly. "Please." 

"All right." He kissed her lightly on the forehead, then left, shutting the door behind him. He would still be able to hear if she needed him. 

When he returned to the other room, the only two that were still there were Amy and Darien, but from the sound of voices, the rest of the group was doing something in the kitchen. _If they mess up anything, Lita is going to rise up from her **deathbed** if necessary to kick their rears. _

"Hi," was all he said as the other two turned to look at him. Amy smiled briefly, then got up. 

"I'm going to go watch Lita for a little bit," it was obviously a pre-rehearsed statement, but he said nothing as she went into the room. He glanced over at Darien for a few moments, who was sipping his tea and looking at him just as calmly as Neflite was looking at him. 

It wasn't exactly the most comfortable moment the ex-general had ever had in either his life or death. Darien had been his prince once, and he had been one of his most trusted advisors and companions. Neflite decided it was time to speak, to say ...something. Even if he didn't know quite what. "It is nice to meet you. Under better circumstances." 

"Yes." Darien nodded. "We knew each other during the Silver Millennium." 

Neflite nodded. "I know. Your Highness." 

"Just Darien." the former prince of the Earth suggested. "Are you willing to help us? Fight, once you're alive again?" 

"Always." Neflite's answer was quiet and firm. Though there was no enemy they were up against right at that moment, it didn't hurt to be prepared. They could use that lull to train and learn how to use their powers as a team. Luna and Artemis had said something about possible upgrades in their future, and it would be better learning how to manipulate their powers in a practice field than in a real battle. 

Darien sipped at the tea, staring down into it. "I remember very little about my past. You're going to have to help us all." 

"I'll do my best." Neflite didn't have full memory of their previous lives, but he sensed he knew some more things than they did. 

"Just be nice to Lita." Darien insisted. That was something all of the team wanted to be certain of. If not, Neflite would have to deal with lunar energy, roses, fire, ice, and light in various parts of his anatomy. He smiled briefly. "Aren't you curious as to what happened about your alter ego Maxfield Stanton?" 

Neflite just smiled. That had been something he had checked into as soon as he had been able to once again. "I already know." 

"What?" 

"Supposedly I have went into hiding for a 'mental' reason." He had wondered what the executors of his estate had stated about him. Those were some of his Negaverse lackeys who had taken care of the things he had set up in the mortal world. One thing he had quickly learned once entering it, those who vanished without a trace were searched for, especially if they were rich. He had made a back up plan the night he had went looking for Molly. He hadn't expected, or wanted, to die...but he had thought ahead. Just in case. 

"I think being dead is a good mental reason for hiding." 

Neflite chuckled. "I suppose. But I will soon be all better." He sighed a little. "I hope...the scouts don't resent me for what I did before, though." 

Darien raised one eyebrow. "Just a little, but I don't think it'll last long. If it wasn't for you creating that crystal, we'd still be fighting Beryl. Or worse, we would've lost. You did us a favor. Sort of." 

"I'm glad you won." Neflite told him. "The only thing I regret was, I wasn't there to give you a hand." 

The dark-haired young man smiled as he leaned back, sipping the tea. "Me too. What kind of tea is this? It tastes delicious." 

The two of them indulged in various forms of small talk until the sound of a door opening up interrupted them. Amy emerged frowning. "I think I'd better leave." 

"What's wrong?" Neflite was already on his feet, worried and ready for anything. 

Amy just smiled, though. "She ran out of cough medicine. We'll be back." She poked her head into the kitchen. "Come on, we need to make a trip to the drugstore." 

"Do we _all_ have to go?" Serena's familiar whine filled the air. "I'm right in the middle of some curry!" 

The Warrior of Mercury sighed. "Yes, we do. Lita doesn't need us all eating up all of her food, and we've got some studying to do, too. We've got that test on Tuesday, remember?" 

Neflite couldn't help but smile as Amy herded the rest of the group, including Darien, out. She might not be as skilled in love as Mina was, but she could tell when it might be a good idea to leave two people alone for a while. 

* * *

The day seemed to go by too fast, and soon it was afternoon. Everyone else had left, returned, and gone again, and Lita appeared to be feeling better. She glanced up from her book as Neflite poked his head in. "Hi!" she smiled and patted the bed, indicating for him to join her. He wasn't lax in taking up the invitation, putting his arm around her and leaning against her as she leaned against him. Slowly the two of them kissed deeply, gazing into each other's eyes and smiling as they did so. 

"Five more hours," Lita said softly. "Five more hours to wait." 

He sighed. "It won't be forever." The last few hours until they performed the first of the tasks necessary to return him to life were slowly ticking away, and it seemed as if they would never be over. 

"I know. I just want to be held by you." 

Neflite smiled as he wrapped his arms around you. "I know." Holding her was fairly tops on the list of things he loved to do. Lita grinned up at him. 

"I bet you like holding me." She purred softly into one ear, smiling as it turned ever so faintly a shade of pink. 

"I do." He told her. "I was born loving you." When she laughed, he frowned. "What?" 

She grinned at him. "You are so full of it!" 

"I'm serious!" he insisted. He was; he had always known that he loved her, but he just hadn't know who _she_ was. He had known he was in love with someone, and had searched for her wherever he went. He had come close to finding her in Molly, but though they had been very close, it hadn't been the same as being with Lita. 

The Lightning warrior smiled. "You're still full of it." The two of them cuddled for a few minutes and she leaned against him. "I love you. I feel so sure of it." 

"I love you too." 

The romantic moment was spoiled somewhat as Lita held his hand...and sneezed. Neflite just smiled and handed her a handkerchief. She blew her nose, handing it back to him, and almost immediately sneezing again. "Just keep it," he smiled as she sneezed again and again. "You need more cold medicine." 

"Amy got me plenty." 

He put a hand on her forehead, not liking how hot she was. _I wonder if I could talk her into going to a hospital...no, she won't do that. Maybe if half her body was ripped apart...maybe. _ "Take it, please." 

"I didn't say I wouldn't!" Lita smiled as she poured herself out a dose and sipped down the bitter-tasting tonic. Slowly she closed her eyes and curled up on the bed, smiling as she felt his arms going around her. "Night, night." 

"Good night my love." 

"Until midnight." 

Slowly the two of them fell asleep in each other's arms, waiting until the hour of eleven struck, the hour they had chosen to awaken at in order to prepare for the first step in his return to true life. 

* * *

As the alarm rang, Neflite's eyes flew open, and the first thing he noticed was that Lita wasn't there with him. He relaxed the moment he heard her familiar step in the kitchen, however, and made his way in there. 

What he saw made his jaw almost quite literally hit his knees in shock. Lita wore a long pale green gown with a rose design on the bodice, a pair of light slippers, and her hair was down and flowing instead of up in it's usual pony tail. The only word that made the slightest bit of sense coming out of his mouth was "Uhhhhhhhhh....." 

"I thought I'd make it special," Lita smiled as she turned to face him, and liking the effect the outfit was having on her. She rarely had the chance to wear this gown, which had belonged to her mother, and was really the only 'fancy thing' she owned that looked decent on her thanks to her height and figure. Her mother had been the same way, and had left her daughter this outfit. 

Neflite gasped, "You're beautiful." 

"Thanks." Lita smiled as she motioned for him to sit down and laid out a plate of some of her finest cooking. Neflite started to eat, and his eyes almost fell out of his head. 

"This is delicious!" 

Lita blushed faintly at the praise, nibbling briefly at the plate she'd put for herself. She stifled a cough before it could get started. She was not going to let anything spoil this night for them. She would get him back to full life. He had only a short time, not quite an hour, before he would once again be a ghost, and it was during that time they would have to dance. She wanted to be ready. 

* * *

She was ready. The room was dark of lights, lit only by the light of the silvery full moon as it rose past the treetops and drenched her living room with light and lunar magic. The two of them looked at each other. He was transparent. She was ethereally beautiful. 

"Are you ready?" she coughed just a little in the question, but stayed on her feet and determined. 

"Always." The music began with a flick of her hand, and he held his right hand out to her. Slowly she took it, feeling just the faintest hint of solidity there, and the two of them began to dance. As they moved next to each other through the motions of the dance, slowly he began to fuse into her. 

_This is so weird!_ Her eyes widened as she felt his mind and soul and being within her. 

_I know... _

I am part of you. And you are of me. She knew they had done it right, they were one. Together, they moved through the dance, each step and turn and grace falling as naturally as if they had been born to it. Perhaps they had been. 

_We are one. _

For a while. 

Yes. 

For two hours of perfect bliss the two of them moved in elegant grace over the room, then finally Lita collapsed on the floor. Neflite stood, his ghostly form intact, and stared down at her. "Whoa....how do you feel, Lita?" 

"Tired..." she breathed softly, then coughed. 

He smiled quietly. "Rest." He meant for her to get up and go to bed, but she simply lay where she was, coughing and curled up. He frowned, not liking what he was hearing, and touched her hand gently. "Lita, you might want to get into bed." 

"All right..." she sighed, slowly making her way up and leaning against the wall. Without even bothering to change clothes or tie her hair up, she collapsed into bed, half-asleep already. 

"Sleep well." he said softly, gazing at her. 

"Bye bye Neflite." she whispered, drifting to sleep with the soft touch of his ghostly lips on her cheek. Neflite sighed, then vanished. He had something to do. 

* * *

Amy pushed her hair out of her eyes and considered getting the whole mess cut again. She hadn't been able to sleep that night, and had turned to her biology instead, hoping the intricate fields of the human body would be enough to lull her mind to rest. 

"Amy?" she looked up to see Neflite appear before her, faint and luminous. "Your mother is a doctor, correct?" 

She nodded. "Yes." 

Neflite sighed, sitting down on her bed. She was rather surprised to see he didn't go _through_ it, as one might think since he had no mass, and made a note to talk to him about that someday fairly soon. It was obvious something else was on his mind, however. "Lita needs her." 

"I've asked her to go in for a checkup." Amy had been trying to get Lita to see her mother ever since she had started to get sick, and Lita had refused every time. She had insisted all she needed was just a suitable application of cold medicine and chicken soup. It was getting more and more obvious that wasn't working. 

The ghost looked near to be crying. "I think she's gotten worse. I didn't want to hurt her, but I think I did!" 

"I'll ask my mother to check her out at home." Amy promised him. Neflite smiled. "I'll talk to her in the morning." 

"Thank you!" Neflite brightened up by several orders of magnitude and sat up a little straighter. Then he sighed again, something else occurring to him. "It's my fault she's worse." 

Amy raised one eyebrow. "Are you sure?" 

"She wasn't _this_ bad, before we danced." he admitted. Amy shrugged. 

"It could've just been a matter of time." 

Neflite sighed. "I hope you're right, Amy. I'd hate to think that I'd done anything to hurt her." 

Amy looked as confidant as she could. "My mom will figure it out." She made a note to also do a scan of Lita with her mini-computer; it might give some sort of answer that would help. How she'd convince her mother of anything she found she didn't know. But she would try to find a way if necessary. 

Neflite nodded at her briefly, then vanished, presumably going back to Lita to keep an eye on her as she slept. In his ghost-form he didn't need to rest, and that was all to the good. She needed someone to watch her right now. Amy stretched and smiled, then turned back to her books. Everything was going to be all right. 

She hoped. 

**To Be Continued**


	3. Jupiter Rose

_**Legal Disclaimer:** What's ours is ours...the ideas here (some of them). What's the creator of Sailor Moon's is hers...(I can never remember how to spell her name, but it's not us!). We aren't profiting by this. Be nice if we could! But we just did it for your enjoyment. If you enjoyed...could you let us know?_

**Jupiter Rose  
by: Cynthia and Emerald J**

Two weeks had elapsed between the time Amy's mother had managed to not just check out Lita, but get into the hospital for pneumonia, and the time that the Scout of Jupiter had finally been able to come home, much stronger and healed of the disease that could very well have claimed her life, had Neflite not pressed Amy into doing something. 

During that fortnight, Neflite had remained by her side in the hospital constantly, using his near-ghost status to watch from the shadows whenever someone was there with her, or when she was alone, he would sit beside her and watch over her. Lita had been very sick, and she had felt better knowing that day and night, there was someone there with her. 

Now, as she carefully walked into her living room and examined some of the books on her shelf, seeking help for a report she had to write to catch up on her schoolwork, she noticed that Neflite was still watching her, and smiled at him. 

"Hello, beautiful," he said. He had learned how to manipulate his garments by now, and instead of the gray general's uniform he had died in; he now wore casual clothing of slacks and a blouse. She approved of this look _much_ better than the austere uniform. 

She raised one eyebrow at him. "Tonight's the night?" they were about to start on the second of the steps to bring him into full life once again, the summoning of the Jupiter Rose. Its aroma would begin to solidify Neflite's body, or so they hoped. "I can't wait to see it. The Jupiter Rose." Just the name of it brought back good memories of the time she'd lived on her old world. Well...perhaps memories wouldn't be the right word to use. There were images, feelings, most of all an abiding happiness that grew stronger every time she looked at Neflite. 

"I'm seeing something much better than a rose," Neflite smiled, and Lita just rolled her eyes at him. She loved how he complimented her, but it was almost beginning to wear thin. She asked something instead. 

"When we were in the Silver Millennium, was that rose special to us?" He nodded, and she sighed. She _knew_ the name, but couldn't remember how it had come to be or what it meant to them. "I wish I could remember." 

Neflite sighed quietly. "I made it for you." 

"You will again," Lita reminded her boyfriend, and he smiled quietly, sadness and memory dark in his eyes. "What does it look like?" Slowly, with careful attention to detail, he described how the flower had first bloomed; how it's faintly green-tipped petals had flowed into marvelous blossoms of ivory-white, with a heart of pure pink. She sighed happily. "That sounds so beautiful." 

"Almost as beautiful as you." 

Lita smiled, and then found the book she needed and headed back to her room. "I really should get this homework caught up." 

"I'll help you." Neflite followed her, and she glanced up at him. 

"Just sit near me," she smiled. "That's all I ask." For the next several hours, she worked on getting caught up on the things she needed to do, things delayed from the fortnight she'd spent sicker than she'd imagined it was possible to be sick. Neflite helped where he could, pointing out errors in those few instances when she made them. Though not a brain in the same sense Amy was, Lita did apply herself as much to her work as she did to her fun. When she wanted to. 

Several hours later, Lita shut the final book, leaned back, and stretched with a smile on her face. "Homework all done?" the ex-general beside her asked. 

"Yes." She nodded, starting to pack things up. While she was 'out' the others had been working, getting everything put together to help with this night. Three things were needed: the fairest of white roses possible, picked at the moment of midnight, purest spring water without the slightest trace of pollution, and cherry wood, which had been very rare on Jupiter, to burn a small fire with. Serena and Darien were going to be picking the rose; they'd already got the water, while Raye took care of the wood. 

Neflite watched her put things away and sighed. "I wish I could help you." 

"I'm feeling better," Lita told him. "So it's not necessary." 

He just smiled at her. "Maybe not. But I'd still like to help." Lita smiled warmly at him. 

"I know." Carefully she packed up, and once she was ready, he floated over to her, leaning to touch her lips briefly with his own. She shivered a little and he sighed. 

"Sorry." 

Lita sighed herself. Whenever he kissed her, or touched her, she felt a chill from the fact he was a ghost. "I wish it were a real kiss." 

"It will be." He promised her. 

"Soon." 

Neflite would've given everything he had to take her hand just then. "Not soon enough." 

"We've waited this long," Lita looked at him. "We'll make it through these next two months." They had figured that it would take, at a rough estimate, two months before they had completed the entire list of things to do. Some were so highly complicated, while some of other ones were fairly simple. All put together, they would make Neflite a living being once again. Lita turned towards the door. "Let's go." 

The two of them, with Neflite fading into invisibility, headed out towards the nearest bus stop. Once Lita paid her fare (and was grateful no one could see her beloved), she sat down by the window staring out and ignoring the various noises all around her. She smiled briefly as she felt Neflite's hand on hers. He brushed his fingertips gently across her hand, and she shivered. "I love you." The soft voice murmured into her ears. Lita smiled, and then got up as they reached the temple's stop. 

"Hi, Lita!" Chad waved to her as they topped the stairway. He and Raye's grandfather were busily sweeping the area, and as she passed, both greeted her. She wondered what they would do if they found out that she had a ghost with her..._hopefully they wouldn't even think about trying to exorcise him._

As they got inside, Lita wasn't at all surprised to see Raye tending the fire. She sniffed, a strange aroma in the air, and then smiled. "Is that cherry wood I smell?" She asked. Raye nodded as Lita shut the door, which caused Neflite to fade into visibility. Seeing him again caused her face to light up; she kept forgetting how handsome he was! 

"You're the most beautiful being in the universe!" Neflite told her. Lita blushed a burning red; the compliments were just...too much! 

Trying to concentrate, she sat down and touched the jar of water they had collected the previous day. "We wait until Darien and Serena get here." 

"Hopefully Serena actually woke up this morning," Raye said a touch acidly. She liked Serena, but their leader did have some fairly annoying habits: such as sleeping late and eating anything that didn't eat her first. 

Lita smiled. "She did. She's been at my house every morning since I got out of the hospital." The scout of Jupiter couldn't help but smile at the way Raye's eyes nearly doubled in size at _that_ piece of news. "So," she made herself comfortable and looked around. "What's going to happen?" 

"I'm not really sure," Raye shook her head. "It doesn't go into a lot of detail about just what will happen, but I do know what to do." 

Lita nodded, leaning back and letting Neflite put a ghostly arm around her. She sighed to herself, wishing the two months were over with. All she wanted was just the chance to be with Neflite, both of them solid and alive again. 

The three of them traded smiles all around for several minutes, until Raye finally rolled her eyes. "Okay, let's stop smiling like idiots!" 

"Want to do something, Raye?" Lita asked. Raye jumped up at once. 

"Feel up to a workout?" 

The Jovian Scout got to her feet at once, a smile on her face. "I don't just _feel_ up to it, I really _need_ it!" 

"Then shall we?" Raye grinned, heading for the workout area. Grandpa and Chad were still sweeping outdoors. She handed Lita a spare gi, and started changing into her own in a quiet corner. 

"Thanks." Lita smiled at her as they came back out onto the dojo. Together they started to work out, moving side by side at first, then moving on to a quick sparring session, each testing the other's reflexes in moves that Lita hadn't tried in half a month. 

Once they were finally done, a light sheen of sweat covered both of them. Raye looked at her friend. "How do you feel?" 

"Wonderful!" Lita declared, her eyes bright as her lightning bolts and her heart racing. For the first time in quite a while, she actually felt _alive_, and it felt _good_! 

Neflite smiled. He'd really enjoyed watching them, for a variety of reasons. "You looked incredible!" 

Lita chuckled as Raye tossed her a towel. "I'm going to take a quick shower! I stink!" The smell of sweat was very noticeable to her sensitive nose, and she wanted it off her! She started for the shower, then paused, whirling around to point at Neflite, who was following her. "Hold it _right_ there!" He looked completely baffled and she frowned. "We've talked about this!" 

Neflite blanched a little. "Oh." Lita nodded sharply, then headed on towards the bathroom, trusting that Neflite would not follow her. She knew he'd be hovering out there, and as she finished and emerged, wasn't surprised to find him waiting for her. 

"You look incredible," Neflite breathed, and Lita just blushed as she sat back down and glanced at the jug of water near her. _Another step taken...and who knows what the rest of it is going to be like._

Raye smiled at her. "Glad you're feeling better." 

"So am I." Lita took a long breath. 

"We were worried about you." Raye said, the closest she would ever get to ever admitting how she truly felt about all of them. Lita nodded quietly, her eyes focusing more on the clock than anything else. 

_I hope this comes out right. I hope this is a good idea. I **love** Neflite, but still, it seems kind of...well...not wrong, but odd...all this that we have to do..._

She toyed with a strand of her hair, her eyes dark and distant for several minutes. A few minutes passed before a voice breaking into her thoughts made her jump. "Lita?" 

"Huh?" she stared. Neflite was looking at her with worry in her eyes. 

"Are you okay?" He asked, his eyes concerned deeply. "You looked worried." 

She shook her head. "I'm fine. Just nervous." She had no intentions of letting him know what was going through her mind in any shape, form, or fashion. 

He smiled, reaching out to touch her hand briefly. She shivered, and he sighed. _I keep forgetting!_ "I'm sorry." 

"Don't be." 

That was foolishness to say, but he didn't correct her in any sense of the word. He loved her too much to let her know that. All he said was, "I wish I were alive again." 

Several hours passed, the day ticking away. The two Scouts talked of many things, old battles and old friends, and Neflite told them what he could remember of life in the Negaverse, and how things had caused him to grow in the desire for peace and love. As midnight drew near, Lita had nearly fallen asleep. 

"I'll get some tea," Raye decided, rising up and heading into the kitchen. For several minutes they could hear her clattering around, then just as she stepped out of the kitchen, a knock came at the door. Raye swerved from the kitchen to the door, opening it up to reveal Serena and Darien behind it. 

"It's 12:10 a.m.," Serena yawned widely. "The roses have been picked! Here's the midnight one!" 

As she held it out to Lita, Neflite stared at it. "It's almost as beautiful as Lita!" 

"Neflite!" The brown-haired Scout blushed again, wondering if it were possible for her skin to turn entirely red from all the blushing she was doing. "You're embarrassing me!" 

He raised one eyebrow. "Well, it's the truth!" Lita sighed, and all he did was just kiss her, despite the chill that ran through her as he did. 

"It's time," Lita finally said, as everyone settled into the room and waited. Neflite looked at everything. 

"We have to burn the rose first, and douse the fire with the pure water," he explained. "There is also an incantation to be spoken, and that should create the Jupiter Rose." Lita nodded. "You're going to have to burn and douse it, it's rather hard when I can't touch anything. I'll do the incantation, though." 

Lita nodded, watching nervously as Raye piled the cherry wood up into a small heap and quickly transformed to Sailor Mars, lighting the flame with a burst of Mars fire. With a deep breath, she waited as Neflite began the incantation; a rhythmic chant that she couldn't understand, but felt in her bones was filled with the most magnificent magic ever thought of. 

As he finished, her arm jerked, and the midnight rose flew into the fire. Everyone there was watching, no one daring to breathe, as it crackled and burned. "How do we know when it's ready?" 

"The flames will turn purple," Neflite told Lita quietly. Silence reigned for several moments, then in a flaming fury, violet fire suddenly burned before them. 

"Now?" 

"Yes!" 

Lita dumped the water over the fire, and then quickly raked out the ashes as they cooled. The rest of the flowers that Darien and Serena had gathered were laid out, and she sprinkled the ashes over them. All was silent for several long minutes, then suddenly, between one heartbeat and the next, a tall golden-green bush was there, covered in flowers of the most unusual shades and fragrances. 

Neflite smiled warmly. "Just as I remember it." 

Lita leaned over, stroking the roses briefly, then breathed in one. "Oh! They smell like a mix between cherries and roses almost!" 

Her boyfriend smiled, leaning over to breathe in the scent himself. "Oh, yes!" 

Darien smiled. "He's become a little more solid!" He declared. Neflite and Lita both looked at each other, and could see he was right; Neflite did have more solidity to him! 

Lita glanced over at the cat that had come in silently with Serena and Darien. "Luna, did you have any luck finding my 'sister'?" 

"Not quite yet," Luna shook her head sadly. They had been searching for whoever had been Lita's sister in the time of the Silver Millennium ever since it was learned she was part of the process that would make Neflite human again. 

The Jovian Scout frowned. "What about Molly?" she'd been thinking, and as odd as that seemed, Serena's friend could very well be it. "Could she be my sister? She _is_ six months younger than I am this time around." 

Luna nodded. "It is possible, I guess." 

"Sure would explain why all the monsters kept on attacking her!" Serena giggled just a little; she'd lost track of all the times she'd had to save Molly! 

Neflite agreed. "And the strange powers I felt from her," he remembered from when he'd served Beryl, and it made him sick a little. 

"How could we find out?" Darien wondered. 

"Dreams," Neflite said succinctly. "With this step, whomever her sister is might start remembering, and memories usually come in dreams." 

Serena smiled a little. "I'll talk with her." She smiled as Lita put the flowers in a vase, and Neflite looked closer at them. 

"Beautiful." 

Lita nodded. "That they are." 

"You're fairer," Neflite said smoothly. Lita frowned briefly, then turned to him with a serious look in her eyes. 

"We need to talk about how much you compliment me." She said sternly. 

Neflite frowned. "What's wrong?" 

"I do like it when you do that, but it's just...don't have almost everything you say to me be a compliment. A person can only take so much!" 

He smiled briefly at her, and touched her hand. "All right. I'll cut down." 

"A lot?" 

"Okay!" he smiled briefly, touching her hand and once more causing her to shiver. He shook his head a little. Soon that wouldn't happen...or would, for different reasons. 

"We better get some sleep," Lita yawned deeply. It was way past midnight already! "We have school tomorrow." 

They didn't have to wait for it. Serena's wail rose up as sharply as a knife slicing through the air. "I _hate_ school!" The Lunar Scout glared at her giggling Jovian companion. "I do!" 

"You'd like it a lot better if Darien were there, wouldn't you?" Lita teased. Serena's eyes bulged with love, and she giggled. 

"Oh, yeah!" 

Darien said nothing, only shook his head, kissing her softly goodbye and then heading for home himself; he had classes the next day. Lita chuckled, and then Raye showed them to the guest rooms. As almost anything did, this rite had turned into an impromptu sleepover for the Scouts. Neflite found a place to curl up out of the way and soon fell into sleep, his mind filled with dreams of Lita...dreams of the past...and the future. 

* * *  
_The Silver Millennium  
Royal Gardens of Jupiter_

There was a shuffling of clothing and a muttering of voices as the two in the gazebo hurried to get themselves back in order before the warning they had just received came true. 

Moving quickly, they moved apart to make everything look as if they hadn't been doing things they'd been specifically ordered not to, and Neflite spoke firmly. "The politics of the situation, of course, demanded that we send in the warships, at once." 

Lita, Princess of Jupiter, nodded as Neflite, General of Earth under Prince Darien, continued his lecture. "I see. It's quit fascinating." 

Both of them looked up as the door swung open and Prince Darien, heir to the thrones of Earth, entered, and looked around the room suspiciously. "Your Highness! Greetings!" Neflite bowed quickly. 

Darien frowned. "What _are_ you doing here?" He growled, not liking this one bit. 

"I was giving Princess Lita a lesson in system politics," his general explained. "She had asked for it some time ago, and I was just now able to make the time. I hope I haven't caused you any inconvenience." 

His prince didn't appear to be buying this, however. "You aren't even supposed to _be_ here! That was a direct order, remember?" 

"Do you wish your realm to have a reputation for failing to keep its promises?" 

Darien shook his head. "Neflite, her father has warned you about coming near his daughter." 

"Fine." Neflite's voice was frosty cold. "Whatever." 

Prince Darien sighed. "Neflite, I don't want you to see you get killed because of your feelings for her! She isn't allowed marriage!" 

Neflite merely turned to Lita. "Farewell, Princess Lita." 

"Farewell General Neflite." Lita said firmly, hiding the tear in her eye as he and Darien left. She sighed, curling up into a tight ball and crying her head off. She only looked up when her sister put her arms around her. The younger princess had given them the warning to halt their romance in time, and supported her sister with all her heart. 

After a few moments of what felt like endless tears, Lita cried, "Why must I be the one who cannot get married?" 

Her sister sighed. "I wish I could be the Scout, so you could marry him!" 

Lita turned to look at her. "You might have to be." She slowly slid to her feet. "I am going to have a _serious_ talk with father." 

"All right." The younger sister took a long breath. This could change Jupiter history. Slowly she followed Lita. 

What came next...is another story.

**To Be Continued**


	4. Realizations

_**Legal Disclaimer: ** We aren't the owners. Did we say that enough? Oh, this starts back in the Silver Millennium, pretty much where the last one left off at._

**Realizations  
by: Cynthia and Emerald J**

Lita brushed back her hair and smoothed down the emerald green gown that her father had bought her for her last birthday. She had to make the very best impression on her father, to get his attention. Slowly she walked into the throne room, where the King was attending to royal business. 

"Father?" 

He looked up, dismissing his attendants at once. "Yes, Lita?" 

"Can I have a favor from you?" she tried to smile, to look charming and eager to please him. He did love her, she felt that, but the kingdom came first in everything that he thought about, regardless of how it affected himself or even his family. 

He lifted one eyebrow. "What?" 

"No matter what it is, will you do it for me?" she wanted to get his commitment before anything got in the way. Like his unwavering devotion to the realm. "Please, just tell me whether or not you'll do it." 

The King considered. "All right." 

"I want to get married!" she declared triumphantly. Her father's face at once assumed the usual stern expression she was so familiar with. 

"No." 

She frowned herself. "But you just said you'd let me!" she cried out. He wasn't following his word! She was torn between stamping her feet and unleashing a Jupiter Thunderbolt on him. 

The king was unmoved, however. "You can't, you're needed as a Sailor Warrior!" he reminded her. Lita glared at him. 

"What if I don't_ want _to be one?" 

"It's your duty." His voice was flat and uncompromising. Duty came before _everything_, it was the way of royalty, but somehow his daughters had escaped learning about that. They did what they wanted to do, not what they had to do. 

Lita tossed her head. "Why can't Molly do it? She's just as capable as I am!" 

"Because you're the oldest and it's your job," the king said firmly. Lita sighed. 

"Then, without Neflite, I have nothing really to look forward to in my life." She turned around, not letting him see the small vial she was carrying with her. 

Her father stared at her. "So your duties mean nothing to you? All you care about is yourself and what you want, not what is best for the kingdom?" 

"What is good for this kingdom is to get an heir since you didn't have any sons!" she flared. The King frowned, his eyes growing darker and sadder. How had he somehow managed to have two daughters, neither of him gave so much as a whisker about the world they would one day be taking care of? 

He sighed. "You are the heir, Lita!" as eldest, she would take on the duties of Queen one day, and he hadn't wanted to tell her so soon. She didn't seem surprised, however. 

"And I'm not allowed to get married?" 

"Once you're the Queen, then you won't have the powers, and you could get married!" he tried to explain it to her. So she'd have to wait a while, certainly she had enough patience for _that!_

Lita shook her head. "By then, the man I love won't be mine to have anymore!" Her father was healthy and strong, and by the time she was queen, any number of things could happen to Neflite. Things she didn't want to think about at all. 

The King frowned. "What is more important? Lust or the kingdom?" 

"I love him!" Lita howled with all her soul, staring out of the window. That was what was important; maybe when she was old and dried up she'd think less of love and more of dry, dull things like government. But now she wanted Neflite, more than anything! 

"Answer me." 

Lita glared at him. "Neither anymore!" She quickly drank down the potion she was holding without him looking at her, hardly hearing his next words. 

"You should never have been born a princess. You have no idea of what it means. All you want is your own selfish whims." the King looked somewhat surprised when Lita collapsed, the vial dropping from her hand, and went over to check on her. A quick examination proved that she was just asleep, having taken a powerful sleeping draught. 

"Take the princess to her room," he turned to see his wife, the Queen, in the chamber. She had hardly spoken to him in the last year since Lita had become Sailor Jupiter, and he still had no idea of why. 

Several minutes passed while he took care of some of the kingdom's business. During a lull, he looked at her. "Are you planning on talking to me at all?" She just shook her head, and he sighed. "Won't you at least tell me what's wrong?" 

"Did you have to do that to Lita?" she asked coldly. He sighed. 

"Do what?" 

The Queen glanced at him. "How you told her she was going to be Sailor Jupiter?" 

"That's what she is _supposed_ to be!" he practically shouted. Maybe he _should_ have married that Princess from Venus instead of her...at least _she_ would understand about what royalty had to do! 

His wife raised one delicate eyebrow. "Did you have to tell her at her party? Did you know that Neflite was going to ask for her hand in marriage that night?" 

"No, I didn't," The King sighed, wondering if there was an opening yet in that Martian monastery he'd heard so many nice things about... 

The Queen continued. "Instead you, in her eyes, ruined her life by announcing that she would be one of the chosen! She never wanted those powers and you knew it!" 

_And I never wanted to be King, but I did what I had to do! Why should she be any different? _ He screamed the words at her mentally, but was silent otherwise save for, "Are you done?" 

"Yes," the queen rose. "And I'll go prepare the guestroom. I promise you that until you rectify the situation, I will not share your bed," she declared, preparing to leave. 

"Oh, and thank you so much for allowing me to explain," he said acidly. 

His wife snorted. "Explain what? That you never liked Neflite in the first place?" 

"I have my reasons," the king had never been able to control the power of the Jupiter Warrior like the female members of his family could, but he had a few small abilities. One of those was an occasional flash of sight, or a sense about people. He had not trusted Neflite from the moment he had seen him, no matter what. 

"And those would be?" 

The King stood. "What do you care? The good of the realm has never mattered one bit to you." 

"It matters," the queen said. "But it's not the only thing in this universe." 

"I realize that." 

The Queen continued, "Love and the happiness of a leader also helps a planet survive." 

"So does keeping one's word. And doing what is _right_ over what is convenient or lusted for." The King retorted. 

His wife smiled faintly. "You haven't been happy since Lita and I stopped talking to you, have you?" 

"Have you listened to _anything_ I've said?" the King sighed, wondering. Had nothing of what he was, a leader and someone who did what was right for the realm, gotten into his family at all? 

She sighed. "Yes, I have. Have you listened to anything I said?" 

"Which is more important?" the King asked. "The peace and safety of the kingdom or one person's happiness?" 

"To you, it's everyone but your own family," the queen retorted, hurt showing plainly on her face. The King just sighed and headed for the door, intending to return to his quarters for some rest. "Everything matters more than your family." 

He looked back to see her crying. "And if I neglected my kingdom, you'd be whining about that too!" 

"You don't want us _and_ your kingdom, all you want is your kingdom!" the Queen flared. Her husband sighed. 

"I am trying to do what is right for us all. Not that you care. The whole planet could go to hell, but as long as you are happy, you don't care." 

He turned away again, but paused when he heard her whisper-soft voice. "I'm pregnant. It's the heir you always wanted." 

For a moment he just looked at her, then his eyes hardened. "That isn't changing anything." 

"It changes one thing." She looked out the window. "Your daughter will never be happy again." 

The king snapped. "Of _course_ not! We don't give in to her every whim so we're obviously evil and hate her! Ruling this kingdom has been my family's responsibility for eons, and we do what we _have_ to do to keep it safe, even if that means we have to be unhappy!! Do you think I _wanted_ to be king? No, I did not! But since I am, I do what I have to do for the kingdom, and if you don't like it, maybe you should just leave!" 

"Do you want Lita to be happy?" 

He sighed deeply. At times, he wondered if he was just talking to himself. "I want this kingdom safe. It's my job to look after it and keep it safe, and do what is best for it!" 

_He is so one-sided!!_ The Queen hissed mentally. _Family is just as important as the kingdom, and he just won't see that! He's so wrapped up in being King he has no idea what it is to be a father!_ "That's not what I asked." 

"Yes, I do," he finally said. "But some things you just can't have." 

They both looked up as a guard entered just then. "What is it?" The king asked; normally guards didn't interrupt private conversations between members of the royal family. 

"News from the Earth kingdom, sire. Prince Darien's four generals were taken last night, by an evil new enemy." 

"What!?" the king paled, his mind at once going to Lita. _She is not going to like this. Not at all. _ "Noo...." 

The Queen went to action. " See if Lita's awake yet," she ordered. "She has to know about this." As the guard ran off, the Queen very nearly collapsed into the window seat, barely noticing as her husband took her hand. "This is going to destroy Lita.." 

"She's strong." the King knew his daughter better than she thought he did, and knew of her inner strength. 

His wife sighed. "He was her world." 

"This is why royal marriages are arranged," the king sighed. If you barely knew your partner beforehand, then it was less of a pain if they perished before then. 

The queen looked at him. "We weren't an arranged marriage and we agreed not to put our children through that either." 

"It's why they should be." The King turned his mind to business. "We're going to have to increase the army." 

His thoughts were interrupted immediately when Lita came in, her hair still rumpled from sleep and her eyes angry and confused both. "What's happened to Neflite?" 

"He's evil." her father said flatly. Lita's eyes flared. 

"No he isn't!" _ He got me up to listen to more anti-Neflite hate spewing!?!?_

The King sighed. "He is now." he explained the report they had gotten to her, and Lita shook her head harshly. 

"I know he's still good, deep inside!" she insisted. Her father sighed. There was only one thing to get through to her. Maybe. 

"Maybe he is. Maybe he isn't. The point is, he's dangerous _now._ We have to keep an eye out for him." 

Lita looked around. "I have to leave." _ I can't be here anymore. I have to go to the moon...to be with my friends._

"Yes, you should be with Serena. This new evil force might try for Prince Darien next, or for her." 

Lita nodded briefly, then headed to make plans and arrangements for her departure. As hard as she tried, however, she could find no trace of Neflite until the very end... 

She laid about her Jupiter Thunders, ripping the soldiers of Queen Beryl to shreds. Suddenly, she saw something out of the corner of one eye: someone standing in the shadows. Her heart leaped. "Neflite?" 

"Sailor Jupiter," He wore a strange uniform of gray, and looked even handsomer than ever, with a frost in his eyes that echoed in the coldness of his voice. 

Lita shivered. "Neflite, it's me! Lita, your love!" she didn't want to have to fight him, but if it were necessary, she would. She took a fighting stance as he stepped forward, his sword visible. "Think about all the good times we've had!" 

"Be silent, wench," his voice could have put frozen Sailor Mercury's coldest ice-blasts. 

"We were going to be married!" she shouted, her hands falling into the position for a Thunder blast. He didn't appear to be impressed. 

"Now I am going to kill you." 

Lita took a quick breath and raised her fingers and hands into the appropriate stance. "Jupiter Thunder----urrk!!" she never finished it, as his sword slammed into her stomach, slicing through her vital organs and ripping up to pierce her heart. 

As she fell off it, he looked at her calmly for a few moments, then a strange shiver passed through her, and he stared. "L..Lita?" He dropped down by her, his eyes full of tears. 

"I...I hate...you..." she breathed, her eyes glazing over in death. 

A tear fell from one of his eyes. "I...I'm sorry...." 

"No..." she whispered. "No...you aren't...." those were her last words. Princess Lita of Jupiter, Sailor Jupiter, died...slain by the one she loved the most. 

* * *

Molly Baker sat up, her eyes wide and her heart racing. What in the _world_ had that dream meant?? For a moment she wasn't certain where she was, then he remembered that she was spending the night over at Serena's. Her blonde friend came out of the bathroom and looked at her. 

"Molly? Molly, what's wrong?" 

The redhead shivered. "N..nightmare...It was _horrible_!" the vividness of it was still with her and she tried to think. 

"About?" Serena was worried; she didn't like it when her friends were troubled, any of her friends! 

"It was _horrible_!" 

The blonde sat beside her. "Tell me about it?" she suggested. Molly whispered something that Serena wasn't sure she had heard correctly. "Who killed who?" 

Molly took several long breaths, her mind obviously searching for the right words to describe her dreams in, then gasped suddenly, her jaw literally dropping open. "What is it?" Serena asked; she didn't like her friend looking at her like this! 

"Your Highness...." Molly breathed, and Serena felt a strange sense of joy filling her. One phrase echoed all around her. She's one of us! Molly spoke again. "It's you....Princess Serena...of the Moon Kingdom." Glowing softly on her forehead was the sign of Jupiter. As Serena stared at it, Molly frowned. "What is it?" 

"This." Serena pointed towards the mirror in her wall, and her friend stared to the symbol glowing there. Molly shivered. 

"I...I remember...." she breathed the pair of words out, memory of an entire life she had forgotten soaring through her mind. Everything good and bad that she had went through was now all there. 

"Tell me what you remember?" her friend asked. Molly nodded, then slowly began to talk, remembering everything from her earliest memory all the way up to the day she'd been stabbed in the back by Jedite as she'd tried to help the warriors of the moon fight. Serena twisted towards the communicator as soon as she was done. "Raye! Raye!" 

Her black-haired friend yawned deeply. "What??" 

"It's Molly!" Serena told her. " She's Lita's sister!" It only took a few moments for them to get things straight, and finally Raye told her. 

"I'm coming over!" 

Serena nodded. "Get Lita! She needs to do number three!" as Serena hung up, Raye contacted Lita. 

"What!?" the Jupiter Scout hissed into the phone. Saying that she was pleasant to be awakened was somewhat...wrong. 

Raye wasn't bothered, however. "Serena found your sister. It's Molly." 

"I thought so!" Lita's bad mood vanished almost at once. She'd been trying to get an early night, still recovering from her illness, but this was _far_ more important! 

"Come on!" Raye told her. "Let's get over to Serena's, and do what we have to do!" 

The Jupiter Scout grinned. "Meet you there!" She slammed the phone down and practically leaped into her clothes. "Nef! Wake up! We found her!" 

Five minutes later, both of them were standing outside of Serena's house, and Raye was waiting for them. Lita grinned. "Let's get upstairs!" 

Thankfully Serena's parents were used to her and her friends running in and out at all hours, so they barely noticed when they dashed up. Neflite had to wait a bit before he could get there safely, but soon all of them were panting just inside Serena's door. 

"Molly?" Lita hadn't had much contact with Serena's friend, but when the other girl turned around and hugged her, it was as if all of her own memories came back to her...filling her soul with a love that could never die for a sister she had wondered if she'd ever see again. 

Together the two of them sat down, and Lita glanced to Raye. "Number three?" 

"You have to remember how you died in the Silver Millennium, on your own," Raye said, checking the list. "And you have to forgive the person who did it to you." 

Neflite seemed a trifle nervous, as Lita asked, "How do I do this? I've never really had any memories come back on my own..." 

"Perhaps meditation?" her boyfriend suggested. Lita frowned. 

"I've never meditated." 

Raye grinned a little; she'd been trying to get her friends into the art since they'd gotten to know each other. "Good time to start!" she began to instruct her in how to meditate. 

Several long minutes passed as Lita made her first foray into this unknown realm. Finally she sighed. "Nothing..." 

Neflite sighed. "Maybe next time?" Lita nodded as she reached out to take Molly's hand. Her other hand touched Neflite's, and a harsh gasp escaped her. She fell back, her eyes wide as memories flashed across her mind. 

Slowly she curled up, trembling in fear and remembered anger and grief, tears purring down her cheeks. Neflite trembled. "Lita?" she looked at him. "I...I'm sorry." 

"I forgive you..." Lita whispered, and Neflite smiled, the guilt vanishing. Lita sniffled a little, then leaped up, running out quickly. Molly glanced after her for a moment, then followed, instincts she'd never fully had before calling her out. 

Lita settled in a bench in the park, sniffling a little. "Hi again." she looked up at the sound, and saw Molly near her. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" 

She nodded, and Molly sat next to her, taking her hand. Lita sighed. "I am so scared. 

"Why?" 

"Neflite...me and him." She sighed. "Bringing him back to life." 

Molly tilted her head. "What's wrong about it?" 

"I'm scared!" 

"Why?" 

Lita shook her head. "I don't know! I love him, but I'm scared about what's going to happen." 

The redheaded younger princess looked at her. "Do you know what will happen?" Lita shook her head. "Then why be afraid of it?" 

Her sister grinned briefly, then changed the subject. "Tell me about your dreams." It took a short while to get everything covered, but finally Lita sat back, satisfied. "Was our race...so..ummm...ummm..." she thought of some of what Molly had told her of her last meeting with Neflite, prior to his conversion to evil, and shivered. 

"What?" 

"Involved?" Molly nodded, and Lita blushed just a little. "I wish I could go back to Jupiter." 

Molly frowned. "Why?" 

"To see what's left under the protective barrier." Lita thought that should be obvious! Why _wouldn't_ they want to see what was left of their old home? "Don't you want to see?" 

Her sister shrugged. "I guess." Molly wasn't used to knowing about Jupiter as more than just another one of the planets so fast. She watched as Lita stood up slowly. 

"After all this is done, we will." The elder one promised, and Molly nodded. "I'm going home. Serena will explain to you what you have to do. Your part is number four on the list, and you have to do it with Neflite." She looked at her newfound sister. "Please do it quickly." 

The two of them shared a hug, then Lita headed back to her apartment, her body wanting rest, but her mind searching for answers that she wasn't certain if she could handle. 

* * *

Neflite was sitting calmly in Serena's room with the moon princess and Raye beside him as Molly came back. As she entered, Serena spoke calmly. "You have to rebuild your bond with Neflite." 

Molly raised an eyebrow. "All right." she was willing to do anything she had to do in order to help the young man she had such strong feelings of friendship for, and her sister. 

"Just sit down," Neflite showed her to a place. "And repeat after me." 

He uttered several words in what she vaguely recognized as Old Jupiter, and she repeated them. Little tendrils of energy rose out of them both, intertwining and bonding them together. "We seal this bond with love of one." He repeated the old phrase of blood-sibling hood slowly, and she uttered it as well. 

"Forever." 

Neflite smiled. "It's done." Almost nothing remained to show that he was a ghost, or had been. He looked at Molly. "How was Lita when you last saw her?" 

"Sad." 

The young man frowned. "I must go to her!" 

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Molly shook her head. "I think she just kind of wanted to be alone." 

* * *

Whatever she wanted, alone was not what Lita was. Artemis was standing with her, keeping an eye on her. Mina was asleep, and he knew Lita needed him right now. She was staring where Jupiter glowed faintly in the night sky, then nodded to herself. 

Deep within her there pulsed the power to always return to her home. With a flicker of concentration, she teleported, arriving in the center of destruction that had once been the royal palace. 

"It's..." she sighed. 

"A wreck." Artemis, who had come along, as cats would do regardless, stated. Lita sighed, nodding. A pathway caught her eye, and she wended her way down it. Somehow she wasn't surprised to see that it led to the garden house that she had spent so much time with Neflite. She sat down, glancing around, reliving memories. 

"It's been a long time since I've been here..." Artemis sighed. Lita nodded, glancing around. Something attracted her: a door hiding behind a wall of oak leaves and ivy. 

It took her a little bit to get it open, but once she did, she caught her breath. Seated on a pedestal was a hawk encased in crystal, wings flared and beak open as if in battle. Her eyes went wide. "You are beautiful..." she breathed, touching it. 

Artemis' jaw dropped. "I don't believe it...it's Zeus!" 

"Zeus?" 

"Don't you remember him?" She shook her head, and Artemis sighed. He would like to claw the old king's eyes out if he could! "Lita, he's your guardian hawk! Like Luna and I are guardian cats! He's been a protector of the family line of Jupiter for thousands of years!" 

Lita smiled softly. _This_ was part of her that she felt was missing! This was one of the things she had been looking for! "How do I revive him?" 

"Maybe a low-level Jupiter Thunder?" Artemis suggested. He dodged out of the way a moment later as Lita transformed and zapped the crystal confining the hawk to shards. They heard something shuffling, then a cough. 

Lita took a breath. "Zeus?" 

As the dust faded, they could see him there, moving around. He flapped his wings a little. "Whoa....." 

"What happened?" Lita asked. Zeus blinked, trying to balance, and looked around. 

"I...I think I could ask you the same question..." his voice was thick and somewhat harsh, but it almost seemed familiar to her, as if she'd heard it elsewhere. 

Lita shrugged. "I don't know what happened to you." 

"I...I was trapped..." Zeus looked around, getting his bearings once again. 

"By?" 

He blinked. "By...by the king...." 

"Why?" 

A shudder ran through him. "I don't know...." 

Lita growled in her mind then turned around. "Come on." she headed for the throne room of the palace, while Zeus spread his wings and soared after her, with Artemis following on the ground. As she stood in the throne room, she gasped. "Artemis...Zeus...they're still alive!" 

The two animals both shuddered. The throne room was full of statues everywhere: or more precisely, the royal court of Jupiter, frozen in time and completely immovable, forgotten to the entire universe. Lita sighed. "Mother...." slowly she laid a hand on the tall, stately woman's stomach, and her eyes widened, something beyond herself telling her what was there. "She's pregnant..." 

Zeus shook his head. "It's been so long..." 

"A thousand years...or longer..." Lita told him. He looked as shocked as if someone had hit him in the head with a board. "Let's go home." 

The hawk nodded. "Yes. This place is not for us." 

"Not yet." Lita sighed. "One day." 

Her guardian agreed. "Let's hope." 

"I know." 

Zeus looked at her. "What's your name, anyway, Sailor Jupiter?" 

"Lita." 

He bowed low, spreading his wings out. "I'm Zeus. Guardian to the House of Jupiter." 

Lita bowed herself. "Hi, Zeus!" she smiled. It was good to have a guardian...a friend... 

"Nice to meet you." 

The Jovian Princess looked around the place that had been her old home. "Let's go home." she said softly. In a green wrinkle of time, she and the two guardians with her were gone, leaving the fifth planet once again a life-less realm under the multi-colored clouds. 

One of the statues, that of the Queen, stood silent as she ever had since the end of their world a thousand years ago. One thing had changed, however: a silver tear worked it's way down her cheek, and then was gone as if it had never been. 

**To Be Continued**


	5. Growing Love

_**Legal Disclaimer:** We aren't the owners of Sailor Moon, someone else beat us to it. So please don't think this is in any way their fault. This story is ours, and we would truly appreciate some e-mail about it._

**Growing Love  
by: Cynthia and Emerald J**

Clouds roiled in the sky, deep, thick, and black, ready to pour out the rain trapped within them onto the waiting Earth below. Lita glanced up with a slight shiver as she pulled on her gardening gloves. Zeus was preening himself on the perch she'd bought a couple of days earlier, and she raised one eyebrow as she looked at him. 

"Coming?" 

The hawk didn't look very impressed; for some reason he wasn't overly thrilled with her plans. "Yes." 

Lita sighed as she adjusted a glove's fit. "We have to do this now, or miss the storm." 

"All right." Zeus looked as if he would far rather be doing..anything....as long as it wasn't this." 

The Jovian Senshi frowned. "What is it?" He didn't appear to know what it was she was talking. "What's wrong with me doing this?" 

Zeus flapped his wings a little. "Do you really have to ask that?" he appeared upset, and slightly confused. 

"Yes!" 

"Why?" 

Lita frowned. This was going absolutely nowhere! "Because I don't know!" she tried to tell him. He just looked at her, as if uncertain why she didn't, and she sighed._ He's as infuriating..as...as a man!! _ With a grump and a growl, she grabbed the rest of the things she needed and headed out to the woods as fast as she could. 

The spot had been selected the previous day, and as she dug into the soft earth, she heard faint footsteps coming towards her. "Help me with this," she said without looking up, and was rewarded by a second shovel digging in next to hers. Together, she and Neflite dug a nice deep hole. Once it was ready, she turned to one of the other objects she had brought with her. 

"A pretty sapling," she smiled warmly down at the small oak tree. She'd always liked trees, and oak trees in particular. For a moment, she thought she saw herself twirling about, with small particles of energy around her, and shouting something like _Jupiter Oak Evolution!_ She shook her head briefly, then started to slide the tree into the earth. 

"I wonder why Zeus is so opposed to this," Lita wondered. She knew he was around somewhere, he just hadn't shown himself since she had arrived here. She wanted to have a long talk with her new guardian, but he never seemed to want to have it with her. 

"I don't know," Neflite shrugged, as confused as she was. As the last bit of earth was tamped back down around the tree, and the two of them glanced at each other, Neflite could feel himself becoming more and more solid. He could actually _feel_ the earth beneath his feet, the air around him, the sunlight shining on him. A broad smile lit his face, and he opened his mouth to say something. 

Before he could get the first syllable out, however, something, or to be one hundred percent accurate, _someone_ interrupted him. A shimmer of silver-white light formed, shaping itself into a form they both recognized. 

"Greetings." Serenity, Queen of the Moon, said with a smile. Lita's eyes lit up. 

"Queen Serenity??" 

The ancient monarch nodded. "Yes, Princess." It wasn't often that Lita remembered she was as much a princess as Serena, though of a different realm. 

"Why are you here?" 

Serenity smiled....serenely. "You need to know certain things." 

Lita raised one eyebrow. "Like?" 

"Such as why Zeus refuses to accept what you are doing." 

Lita nodded. "And why the Jupiter Kingdom has been statues since the Silver Millennium?" Serenity nodded. "Why?" That was something she had been wondering for a while now. 

Serenity sighed briefly. "Your father froze them all." 

Lita raised an eyebrow. "Why?" 

"It was the only way he could think of to save them all," Serenity told her. "And as for Zeus..he believes in the old laws of Jupiter, to the exclusion of everything else." 

The brunette warrior sighed. "That the Sailor Warrior of Jupiter cannot be married while holding the powers." 

"Exactly." 

She glanced first at Neflite, then to Serenity, sighing. She felt so torn...she knew that Zeus had a point, at least for the old ways. Neflite spoke her name quietly and she looked at him. 

"We aren't on Jupiter anymore. We can make our own rules. And just because a rule exists, doesn't make it right." 

Lita sighed. "You're right. I know that." 

Serenity agreed. "That is right, and that is what Zeus should learn. Good luck with you both, and farewell. I wish you happiness together." She smiled briefly at the both of them. "Farewell." 

As the two of them returned to fixing up the sapling, Serenity vanished. Lita glanced up to the black clouds overheard. "It's going to rain in a couple of hours. If not sooner." Neflite nodded, and she glanced at him, her fingers brushing across his hand lightly. "I can touch you...barely." 

"I know," Neflite smiled. "I can't wait for it all to be real...forever." 

Lita nodded. "I haven't told the others yet, though." He knew what she meant, and raised an eyebrow in query. "How would you explain that their families from the Silver Millennium are all dead, and mine isn't?" 

Neflite sighed. "Of all of them, you deserve a family the most." 

"It doesn't make it right, though." Lita shook her head, and Neflite took her hand, as best he was able. 

"You had nothing to do with it." he reminded her, and she sighed. 

"I did tell them about Zeus, though." 

Her boyfriend looked curious. "What did they say?" She shrugged, indicating not a lot, and then curled up under a nearby tree, her eyes flicking every now and then to the sapling, and the skies above. 

"I'm nervous." She murmured as Neflite put his arms around her. "About us. About you, coming back to life." 

Neflite tilted his head. "Why are you nervous?" 

"I'm scared, more or less, about losing you again." 

The ex-general was very serious. "You won't." 

"What's to stop someone from trying to break us up? What's to stop Zeus?" Lita could feel the worries and fears striving to overtake her again. The two of them laid where they were for a few moments, and Neflite whispered softly in her ear. 

"They can try all they want to, but it's not going to happen, Lita. I love you, and nothing is going ever break us up again: not even death." 

The two of them kissed slightly, and Lita glanced up again. "It's going to rain...soon." They were nearing the end of the list, and each thing was more unusual than the last. The next item was something almost too bizarre..but they had to do it. 

Lightning began to flash from here to there in the stormclouds, the rain pattering down upon them quietly. Lita watched it for several minutes, feeling the surge and play of a power she was most intimately connected to. "It's starting to get bad," she murmured. Neflite nodded quietly, his arms tightly around her for warmth. "Let's go." 

Together the two of them left the woods, heading for an abandoned building that was one of Neflite, or Maxfield Stanton's, recent purchases. Lita stood out in the center, Neflite slightly to the side, his eyes all on her. She glanced over at him. "You coming out here?" 

He smiled, just as lightning began to swarm all around them. As the two of them stood together, they didn't flinch as a thunderous bolt of lightning shot down from almost directly above them, hitting them both as they stood waiting for it. 

To someone watching, they would have been completely obliterated from view. To the two of them, they were simply briefly blinded. As their sight came back, Lita realized something: she could feel him. Really feel him in her arms. She looked up at him, tears of joy suddenly blinding her. 

"You're...I....You're...you're _real_!" she gasped, staring at him as those joyous tears began to fall. "You're _real_! I'm so _happy_! We did it...we really did it!" 

Neflite smiled, kissing her softly. "I love you." It contained everything he had ever wanted to say to her, and then some. The two of them stared at one another for several long moments, then kissed again slowly. They might have stayed that way for who knows how long, had a battle screech not sounded, and they looked up to see Zeus soaring towards them, claws extended viciously, without a doubt heading directly for Neflite. 

"Zeus!" Lita shouted. "No!!!" 

There was no way to stop the great bird from the attack, but Lita could and did do one thing: she pushed Neflite out of the way and screamed as Zeus' talons ripped into her. Zeus pulled up, staring down at her with horror in his golden eyes as she screamed and fell to the ground. 

"No...." the hawk breathed. This was _not_ how it was supposed to be! The Negaverse slime was supposed to have been destroyed, those pretty boy looks ruined forever, possibly even killed, not his beloved princess!! The hawk could barely comprehend what he had done as Neflite slowly picked her up and carried her to the nearest hospital. Then, slowly he spread his wings and soared into the sky. 

* * *

Dr. Smith looked at Neflite. "Does she have any family?" he wondered. The young girl had been badly cut up, but she would live, as far as they could tell. Until they knew more, she was going to be staying in ICU. 

"Me," Neflite, or Maxfield as he was being called here now, replied. "And some close friends." 

The doctor nodded. "Would you like to call them, or give the numbers to the nurses?" Neflite had no intentions of leaving Lita, so he quickly gave the numbers of Darien and the Scouts to a nurse. He pulled up a chair, taking Lita's hand gently, and watching her for any sign of recovery or consciousness. 

* * *

Darien hummed to himself as he dusted a counter, then glanced up at the sound of the phone. _Must be Serena_. He had never felt happier than he was now; with all of them together, with their memories intact, and his love for Serena filling his life forever. "Hello?" he made it a question as he picked up the phone. 

"Hello, this is Nurse Hallen," an unfamiliar female voice spoke. "Is there a Darien Shields there?" 

He frowned. "Yes, this is me." 

"I'm calling to inform you that your friend, Lita Kino, has just been admitted to our ICU today," she gave the name of a hospital, and Darien felt just a little faint. 

"What?? What happened?" 

The nurse told him, "She was attacked by her hawk. She has several deep wounds from it, but we think she might be all right, in time." 

"I'll be right there." 

"Thank you," the nurse said. "I'm sure she'd be glad to see you." 

Darien nodded and hung up, leaning back with a sigh. "What's wrong?" He wasn't overly surprised to hear Serena's voice; she had a key to his apartment and generally came over whenever she liked. 

"Lita's hurt." 

Serena's eyes widened. "How?" 

"Zeus." 

"Why would Zeus hurt Lita?" Serena was confused, and got even worse as she looked towards the balcony. Zeus was perched outside, head hung low, and looking every bit as depressed as a hawk could. 

Darien frowned lightly. "What did you do?" 

"I attacked Neflite." 

"You have put Lita in the hospital!" Darien growled. Zeus flapped his wings a little. 

"She pushed him out of the way; I didn't have time to stop!" If he'd known that was going to happen, he would've never attacked! 

The prince wasn't so easily dissuaded, however. "Why did you even try to attack him?" 

"She has no legal right to be with him!" 

Darien shook his head with a deep sigh. "She has the only right she needs. She loves him, and he loves her." 

"Did she tell you about what else she found on Jupiter?" Zeus wondered, looking at them with a golden eye. 

Tuxedo Mask, or rather his human form, didn't look particularly interested. "Does it matter?" He failed to see how this affected what they were talking about. 

"The Jupiter Kingdom...all the people...are still there. Frozen, alive, but unmoving," Zeus told them. Darien still wasn't impressed, or interested. 

"And your point would be?" 

Zeus sighed. "She is the princess of Jupiter and as such she must follow Jupiter law." 

"And what does the law say about someone who injures someone of the royal house?" Darien asked bluntly. 

The hawk shook his head. "That is why I came to say goodbye." The penalty for harming one of the Jovian blood was either exile or death, and since he didn't want to die so soon, he would sentence himself to exile. 

"Do you know what the phrase, 'you've got a stick up your rump' means?" Darien growled. The stiff and stodgy hawk was beginning to get on Darien's nerves. Luna and Artemis were never like this! _ Then again, Serena and I aren't exactly dating someone from the Negaverse. _

Zeus spread his wings. "I hurt the princess. I must pay the price." 

"All right." Darien pinned the hawk with his eyes. " Could you do me a favor first?" 

"Yes." 

Darien drew himself up royally. "Explain to me why keeping the laws of a dead world is so much better than doing what the Senshi have always done: fight for love and justice." 

"Her world isn't dead. It's just frozen." 

The prince growled. "It makes no difference. I suppose you Jupiter people are so much better than the rest of us that your rules always apply, no matter what." 

"This is how I was raised!" Zeus explained quietly. " To follow and obey. To make sure that the royal princesses of Jupiter do the same. Is that wrong?" 

Darien shook his head. "Do you believe in free will? In doing what's right over what's been done before?" He would've loved Serena even if their past lives didn't bring them together. The fact they had a past together only meant that they had loved each other longer than they knew. 

Zeus sighed. "I do, but she has her duties, and one of those duties is to revive her people, as she revived me." 

"That was a mistake." Darien's voice was as cold as ice itself. Colder. 

Zeus shook his head. "This is my duty, as Luna and Artemis' is to protect and train the Princesses of the Moon and Venus. It has always been the duty of the guardians!" 

"Then you're failing it by leaving," Darien stated. "And I think I just might know why the Jupiter King froze his people. So their outside will mirror his own icy heart: and yours." He remembered a few things from his past, and one of them was how he had always disapproved of the Jovian monarch's way of putting _everything_ ahead of his family. 

The hawk mantled briefly. "It was to protect them from Beryl! He froze me so I would be here for Lita, he knew she would find me first! He love her _very_ much!" 

"I can't imagine why he'd want a total stranger, whose only concern is _laws_, not how things have changed to be near her if he loved her so much." Darien's tone of voice made the very concept of Lita's father loving her seem ridiculous. 

Zeus dropped his head. "I am sorry you don't understand." Without another word, he spread his wings and soared away in the general direction of Lita's apartment. Darien sighed. 

"Serena...I hate our past. I hate with all my heart." He glanced towards her. "Let's go see Lita." 

She smiled as she hugged him. ""Not all of it you don't!" 

"One thing it gave me, I don't," He hugged her back. "But a lot of the rest of it I do. Mainly because it wants to keep putting rules that no longer have any meaning on people who don't need it?" 

"Molly was telling me what she remembers of the Jovian times," Serena said quietly. "Something about the women." 

"What?" 

lot more than they had before finding out Molly was Lita's reborn sister, catching up on things that her friend had missed out on because Serena couldn't tell her Senshi things. "It's _very_ easy for them to get pregnant. That's why the rule was made! To ensure that the child wasn't harmed in any sort of battle!" 

Darien shook his head. "That's meaningless now! We have birth control. Very effective too." 

"We don't know if that still applies to Lita or Molly, and birth control doesn't always work," she reminded him. She's given thought to things like that since she had realized the depth of her emotions for Darien, and had long since come to the decision she wasn't ready for that sort of thing. "So don't be so hard on him." 

Darien sighed. "So why are we even bothering?" 

"Let's just help Lita get better," Serena suggested. "And maybe then we'll all be calmed down enough to figure out why he did this." 

"We already know why," her boyfriend sighed as he grabbed his jacket. "Let's go." 

Quietly they headed out to the car, Serena sliding into her seat and staring out the window without a word as they headed down the road. "What is it?" Darien asked finally. Serena sighed and shrugged. 

"I'm just confused about this whole situation." 

Her boyfriend raised an eyebrow. "What's confusing? Lita's being forced to follow old-fashioned, outdated rules without even being asked about how she felt about it by someone who doesn't even know her." 

"He did it to protect her." Serena murmured. 

"I guess _talking_ is outdated, too." Darien half-groused. Serena glanced at him. 

"If that's what you want to think." 

Darien sighed. "I meant he could've talked to her about why she isn't supposed to get pregnant and maybe come to some sort of compromise." 

Serena shrugged. "Maybe because that's too easy to think of?" 

"Yeah," Darien snapped the words out. "And it might work. _If_ he cared!" 

The blonde sighed. "He does. I can tell that he worries about her." 

"Because she's the "princess"." 

"Even if she wasn't, I think he would." 

Darien shrugged. "Ask him." The tone of his voice didn't exactly bode all that well. 

"When I see him next, I will!" 

"Don't hold your breath." 

Serena tossed her head. "I have a feeling I will!" 

For the rest of the trip, both were silent, Serena thinking and Darien driving. As they arrived at the hospital, Serena looked over at him. "Darien?" 

"What?" He was caught by surprise as she wrapped her arms around him. She hugged him quickly, and he returned it with all the love he'd always had for her, even before knowing who she was. "I love you, Serena." 

"Why is all this happening?" she wondered. Darien shrugged. 

"Who knows." Darien murmured as they leaned against each other for a moment. Age had never mattered for them; they felt in their hearts they were meant for one another, for all time." 

Serena sighed for a little. "I hope she's okay." 

"Let's go find out." 

Together, hand in hand, they headed inside to meet up with their friend, and find out just what had happened when they weren't looking. 

* * *

Neflite hadn't moved once as the hours had passed and Lita had slumbered in a half-doze. His eyes brightened as he saw hers flicker just a little, and then slowly open. They focused on him, then she smiled. "W...why?" Neflite shook his head, he had no idea just why it was that Zeus had done that. He would like to know, however. "Where is he?" 

"I don't know." Neflite said quietly. Lita nodded slowly, weakly. 

"I want to talk to him." 

Her boyfriend wasn't going to argue. "I'll let him know, if I see him." _Which I doubt that is going to happen!_

Lita sighed. "I want to forgive him." She understand the why he had done it, she thought. He didn't approve of her liaison with Neflite. But she wanted to know why that disapproval existed. Queen Serenity's statement hadn't quite satisfied her. She groaned a little in pain, and Neflite took her hand. "How bad is it?" 

"You've got around fifty stitches or so," Neflite told her. She would most likely heal scarlessly, but the pain was going to be rather intense for a long time. 

"What else?" 

Neflite slowly detailed out the injuries; most of those were to her face and shoulders, as Zeus had struck there. Lita slowly nodded, and the two of them gazed at each other in pure and sweet silent for a time. 

After a few moments, Lita glanced over at the window and her eyes widened briefly. "Zeus?" Indeed, the hawk was hovering out there. "Open the window." 

Neflite quickly did so, and Lita sat up. "Come in, Zeus." she asked softly. He flapped in, carrying a bag in his beak that he sat down by her. "What's this?" When he said nothing, she opened it peering inside to find snacks, a couple of her favorite books, and some night outfits. "Oh...thanks." She glanced over at the hawk. "Why?" 

"You have to follow the law." Zeus said quietly. Lita shook her head. 

"The law of Earth. This is my home now, understand that, please." 

The hawk didn't look convinced. "You are the princess of Jupiter." 

"Who died and was reborn on Earth," Lita told him. "That's why it's my home now." She couldn't help having some feelings for Jupiter, however. It _had_ been her home, after all, and it was from there that she drew her powers. But it wasn't what it had been to her, even knowing that it's population still existed. 

Zeus looked at her. "Then why do you use your powers?" 

"To protect my friends and Earth." 

"Only the princess of Jupiter has those powers," he told her. If she would not accept part of her heritage, then she should not accept all of it, he felt. 

Lita sighed. "What do you want me to do? Give them up?" 

"Be what you are." He answered promptly. "The Princess of Jupiter. Which means following the laws of it." 

"The rules need to be changed," Lita murmured, then looked at her guardian. "I am the princess, correct?" Zeus agreed. "Then while my father is frozen, I am in charge?" Again Zeus nodded. "Then I say that the Sailor Senshi of Jupiter _can_ marry, once she is ready, and can keep her powers." Zeus mantled just a little in anger, but Lita wasn't finished yet. "I'm not ready yet. Not for marriage. I'm still in junior high!" 

She sighed as Zeus headed back to the window. "Is that why you attacked?" 

Zeus glanced back over to her. "Let me know if you have any orders....Your Majesty." 

"How about being my friend?" she tried to ask quietly. Zeus bowed his head. 

"As you command, your Majesty." His voice sounded very distant and full of pain. 

Lita sighed. "Why are you being so negative all of a sudden?" 

Zeus's eyes were full of tears. "If I may be excused?" 

"I care for you..." Lita whispered. Zeus lifted his head, an icy calm touching his words. 

"You are the Interim Queen of Jupiter. It is your job to care for all your subjects." 

"Even you." 

The hawk spread his wings. "Whatever you say is the law. I had hoped the throne would come to someone who cared for the people, not for herself, however." 

Lita bit her lip. "I do care." 

"Then if you're so 'not ready' why are you rushing to say you can marry him?" Zeus was confused; her words were saying one thing, while her actions said other things altogether. 

She told him, "So that when I am ready, I won't have to battle for it!" the Jupiter Princess held up her arm. "Zeus, I think you and I...need to talk." 

"There is nothing that needs to be talked about," Zeus stated. " You've made your command, and I obey. My personal feelings don't matter." 

"They do!" 

Zeus sighed. "I am a servant of the Royal House of Jupiter, and I obey. That is all I do." 

"Really?" Lita shook her head. " That's not all Luna and Artemis do!" She spoke with a note of triumph in her voice. 

Her guardian spoke quietly. "They serve Earth's moon and Venus. Not Jupiter." 

"But they also follow their hearts." 

Zeus shook his head again, ready to fly at a moment's notice. "Their laws are not ours." 

"Who said that the guardian and princess can't be friends?" 

"For Jupiter, they can't be," Zeus said softly. It was something he had grown used to over the eons. It was what was, and that was all it was. 

Lita frowned. "Why does it seem like Jupiter has something stuffed up it's rear that died, then?" Zeus appeared taken aback by her words, and she kept going. "Doesn't it seem like that? I mean, if you and I aren't allowed to talk, to be friends, to think for ourselves...both of us?" 

Zeus lifted his head. "That is the way it has always been on Jupiter." 

"Can't you and I change it?" she asked. Zeus's shoulders {or whatever a hawk has that passes for shoulders} slumped. 

"If that is your command." 

Lita felt like screaming. "Do you want things to change for the better?" 

"There's nothing wrong with the way they are now." 

"I wish we could be friends. You're a very caring bird!" Lita declared. _Even though you are so old-fashioned I want to scream._

Zeus looked at her, old age very evident in his eyes. " You can change any law you want, but does that mean you_ should?_" 

"Maybe we could have a long discussion about this when I get strong?" Lita suggested. "About maybe changing the law that says I cannot marry and keep my powers." 

Zeus shook his head. "You can do whatever you want. You are the only member left of the Jupiter Clan that is active." 

Lita raised one eyebrow with a grin. "My sister is alive." Zeus looked absolutely floored at that. A voice from the door surprised the both of them. 

"How about this for an idea?" Darien asked. He and Serena stood there, both obviously having been listening for quite some time. Zeus turned to him. 

"Prince Darien," he spoke in his most superior and annoying tone, only used when he _really_ didn't like someone. "I have already said all that needs saying. Princess Lita is the oldest surviving member of the Clan. Her word is law. If she commands me to kill myself, I will. If she wants to sleep with a thousand men, I cannot stop her. There is nothing I can do." 

Darien shook his head. "We don't know much about the Silver Millennium. And it's rules. Maybe _all_ of us can sit down after Lita gets out of the hospital and discuss them, so we know what they are." 

Zeus made a sound that was like laughter. "You have no _need_ of it's rules. They've already been changed, haven't you been listening?" 

Lita spoke quietly. "I retract it." 

"Why? You have what you want now. Make the rules you want for your new world." Sarcasm and hatred were thick in his voice, as well as grief for a world he no longer had. 

"If I order you to do something, then you have to do it, right?" Lita asked, an idea forming in her mind. Zeus nodded. 

"I already told you that. Do you have a preference for which river I should drown myself in, or can I pick my own?" 

Lita smiled. "Then I order you think for yourself and do what you feel is right!"_ There! That should do it!_

"The laws of Jupiter are what's right." 

"Then that's your choice." She stated. "But I agree with Darien." 

Zeus looked at her, then spread his wings again. "You're not the Princess of Jupiter. You're just a copy of a dead soul." With no more than that, he flew away, the conversation finished, so far as he was concerned, at least. 

Lita sighed, as Serena came over to hold her hand, not showing the slightest bit of revulsion for the wounds her friend had suffered. "He did what he thought was right," Lita murmured. "And he is right." 

Serena shook her head. "No, he's not." 

"I think I just want to sleep," Lita sighed. Serena nodded. "Alone. I'll be fine." 

Her leader smiled. "If you're sure." Lita nodded, and Serena bent gently to give her a friendly kiss on the forehead. "Feel better, then. We'll see you later." 

As Lita pulled her blankets, up, a single tear fell down her cheek. Serena squeezed her hand quietly. " We love you, Lita." 

"I know." She smiled as the two of them, left, then raised her head to glance at Neflite. "You too. Please." 

Neflite smiled quietly; he'd hoped she would let him stay while she rested. That wasn't an option, apparently. A quick kiss later, he was out the door. He had a lot of things to do, at any rate, and he might do them much faster from somewhere that didn't have her beautiful face to distract him. 

Lita lay there quietly as things fell silent around her, wondering just what was going to happen. Everything was so still...and so quiet around here, she almost could forget she was in the hospital. She could almost forget the agonizing pain of her guardian's attack...and refusal to accept her love with Neflite. 

_I love him with all my soul, and yet Zeus won't see that. Why? _ She might well have wondered forever, had a slight noise not alerted her to something going on outside. She turned to see Zeus outside the window, rain pouring down still, looking at her. "Hi." 

"Greetings." He bowed as formally as if they were in a throne room together. 

"Do you have to be so formal?" 

"Yes." 

She nodded. "Okay, just wondering. Would you like to come on, it's pouring outside. I wouldn't want you to get sick." 

Zeus shrugged. "I'll be all right." 

Things were silent for a moment, then she asked, "Is it wrong for me to fall in love?" The air had a surreal feel to it; perhaps now answers could be achieved. 

"No." Zeus responded. "But it is not remitted to act upon it." 

Lita tilted her head to one side. "What is the law...exactly?" She'd heard a lot about how she couldn't or shouldn't break it, but she had no idea just _what_ the law was in the first place. 

"That while the Solar System is under attack, the Senshi cannot indulge in carnal actives or marry," he told her. Lita's eyes lit up with joy. "Then I _can_ be with Neflite!" she told him. Zeus shook his head again, and she smiled. "We're at peace at the moment!" 

Zeus' eyes widened, and he quite nearly fell off the sill! "But...but..you're...you..you know who you are!" He had it on the best of authority that unless the Senshi were under attack, they would not know who they really were. How could this be? 

Lita grinned. "We've already taken care of Beryl, and we just finished up with the Doom Tree. Right now, we're just waiting and doing the occasional crimebusting." Zeus nodded slowly, in shock. "So...I can be with Neflite?" Hope filed her voice. 

"I..believe so." Zeus said, hardly able to believe what was going on. His entire universe had just turned upside down and inside out in under a moment. 

Lita smiled. "You'll have to train me in the laws," she said quietly. "On one condition." 

"What?" 

"Can we be friends also?" she wondered. Zeus did a small gaping of his beak, a hawk's version of a smile. 

"I believe so." 

"Good." With that, she closed her eyes and laid her head back down. The last thing she heard was Zeus flying away on silent wings, and then the patter of the rain as it lulled her to healing sleep. 

**To Be Continued**


	6. Endings and Beginnings

_**Legal Disclaimer:** The characters here, except for Zeus and anyone else we made up, don't belong to us._

**Endings and Beginnings  
by: Cynthia and Emerald J**

Spring had arrived to dress the land in pristine beauty. Grass the color of Lita's eyes poked up through the earth, and the rivers and springs began to run with sparkling water. The very air was filled with the fresh scents of the earth and new life, as the two young lovers lay down on a soft blanket together. Lita was feeling particularly lively; the stitches caused by Zeus' unexpected attack had just come out the day before, and this picnic was their celebration. 

Sunlight dappled them and the yard around them as they held each other in their arms. They were in Neflite's backyard, a vast expanse of green behind his Maxfield Stanton mansion. Everyone in town by now had heard of the reclusive millionaire's return, and of the fact he already had a girlfriend. The collective gnashing of teeth of all the eligible ladies in town had been audible for days. Lita, and Neflite, didn't care. 

"I can't believe Zeus left us alone for an _entire_ day!" Lita purred as she dropped a grape into Neflite's mouth. Once he swallowed it, he returned the favor and smiled. 

"I'm not going to complain." He told her as he caressed her lips gently. The two of them embraced softly and tenderly, taking advantage of the fact that not only were they alone, but they were in love and didn't have to fight it, hide it, or argue about it. 

Lita moved back just a little. "I want to see inside your place. I _still_ haven't seen all of it you know." She smiled a little and Neflite nodded his agreement. There were rooms there that even _he_ hadn't seen yet! 

As the two of them got up, Lita noticed a faint flash from somewhere close by. She recognized it almost at once as the flash from a camera! "What was that?" she was going to _kill_ whoever was spying on them! 

I don't know," Neflite glanced around, then Lita ground her teeth as she caught sight of someone running through the bushes. It only took her a moment to tackle the person as they tried to squirm through the shrubbery and get away. A camera and a pair of glasses fell down as she did so, and she heard a familiar voice shouting, 

"Ack! My glasses!" 

Lita stood up, snatching the glasses from where they'd fallen and glaring down at Melvin. She was _not_ a happy Scout, not in the slightest. "What do you think you're _doing_, Melvin?" 

"Nothing, nothing!" Melvin shook his head fiercely in denial as he struggled to get up. He regretted the very thought of sneaking onto the Stanton estate now! 

Lita wasn't taking _that_ for an answer, though. "Bull!" She knew he was up to more than just sneaking around! The last thing she wanted was to have herself and Neflite splattered all over the tabloids! 

"Honest!" 

She snatched up his camera and held it out to him. He flinched from the strong evidence of just what it was he _had_ been doing as she pulled out the film and dumped it on the ground. "So what's _this_ then?" When he said nothing, she growled, "Get out of here!" She was almost positive he set a land speed record heading away, as she threw the camera after him. In a surprisingly graceful move, he caught the device and soared out of sight. Lita grunted a few Jovian profanities and sighed. "I was hoping to break the camera, but he caught it!" Neflite took her hand and she sighed. "Let's go in." 

As the two of them headed inside, Neflite guided her up through the various corridors until they came to his own quarters. Lita whistled in shock and Neflite glanced at her curiously. "What?" 

"This room is _beautiful_!" she gasped, taking in _everything_ around her. She smiled as she closed the curtains and glanced over to him. "I believe it's time for dinner" She purred, both their eyes going to the meal laid out by his servants before they'd arrived. Somehow, those who served him always seemed to know _just_ when he wanted or needed something and they took care of it swiftly and without needing to be told. 

Lita smiled to herself as she investigated the contents of the dinner they had been left. She wasn't overly surprised to find steak, mushrooms, and several other dishes there, including rice and potatoes. "This looks fantastic!" she grinned. "Come on, lay down! Time to eat!" 

Without a fight, Neflite lay down, leaning back and watching as Lita prepared things. Every move she made as she opened up the food was one of unutterable grace. He accepted each morsel of food as she fed him each delectable course. What else they did is no one's business but theirs, and this narrative shall flex to reach the moment after they had recovered from their exertions and were relaxing in each other's arms. 

"I don't know what's come over me today!" Lita moaned as she kissed him "I've just been...eager!" He smiled and told her it was okay. "Is it?" She wondered. "We didn't even use protection!" Not that she minded, deep inside, all she seemed to want was him, in every sense of the word. 

"I know," he told her, hugging her again and kissing her. The two of them began to kiss again, their hands and arms touching in all the right places, and they might well have begun another session, had a faint tapping not sounded at the window behind them. 

Lita cursed fairly creatively under her breath, then quickly reached for her clothes and pulled them back on. "Get dressed, quickly!" she muttered, tossing him his own garments. As soon as they both were, she slid into bed and closed her eyes. "Pretend like you just woke up." She murmured. He nodded, yawning rather theatrically, then stumbled towards the window in perfect mimicry of someone just awakened from deep slumber. 

He wasn't surprised to find Zeus out there when he pulled back the curtains and opened the window. The hawk looked _very_ angry. "Where is Lita? She promised to be home four hours ago!" 

"She fell asleep," Neflite motioned behind him, and Zeus peered over critically. As he saw the Scout laying in bed, her eyes shut and her breathing calm and measured, he sighed. 

_If he expects me to believe that, he's **got** to be dumber than a box of rocks. But I'll let it slide. For now._ Zeus sighed a little again. "She always looks so innocent when she's asleep." He spread his wings and flew away. _In contrast to when she's awake and a walking terror._

Neflite smiled to himself as he started back to the bed. He paused and did a turnaround as Lita motioned him right back to the curtains he'd left undrawn. Once he'd fixed that, it only took a moment for him to slide back into bed next to her. The two of them cuddled for a moment, and it almost looked as if it would once again become serious, when Lita sighed and turned away. "I should be going." Neflite looked at her with sad eyes she refused to meet. "It's for the best that I go now, before we go any further." She told him. 

Neflite nodded quietly. There _had_ to be more than the physical to their relationship, and he wanted that more. "All right." 

Lita grabbed her few things that she had brought with her. "I'll see you around," she muttered quickly, then headed for home, her eyes full of tears that she wouldn't let fall. She hardly noticed Zeus seated on the couch back in her apartment, as she threw her door open and ran straight for her own room and her own bed. Her own empty, lonely bed. 

Zeus flapped over, and heard water running a few moments later. "Lita?" _Something has gone wrong. If he has harmed her..._ There was nothing he could do, however. It only took a short while for her to emerge, and when she did, he could tell at one something was up. "What's wrong?" 

She shrugged. "Just tired." 

"It's not polite to lie to friends," Zeus said warningly. "Or guardians." She might want her secrets, but he at least wanted to know they existed! 

Lita sighed deeply. "I don't really want to talk about it right now, Zeus." She told him, setting a plate of food down for him. "I'll be fine. I'm just going to go take another nap." 

Zeus watched as she went back to her bedroom. He nibbled half-heartedly at what she'd given him, then flapped over to look into the room. Lita lay on the bed, the blankets at her feet, all curled up and with her eyes shut. She didn't move as Zeus soared in to land at the foot of the bed and used his beak to pull the blankets all the way up on her. 

She was awake, however. "Thanks," was muttered from under them. 

"If you want to talk, I'm here." he told her. She nodded as he took up a nearby perch and watched her. The warm quilt felt very good around her as she cuddled into it, letting a tear fall down one cheek. Zeus quietly pulled a tissue from the container and put it where she could reach it. 

Her eyes flickered momentarily up to him. "Thanks," she whispered again, reaching for her painkillers. Her face still hurt some from where he'd struck, and he winced at the very thought of the pain he'd caused. "I'll be fine, soon," she told him. Zeus nodded as she downed the pills, then picked up a picture of herself and Neflite and stared at it for a few moments before putting it back and turning the lights off. 

"Good night." She told him firmly, and he tucked his head under his wing after bidding her a good night. He would remain with her, watching over her in sleep and in wakefulness, all the days of her life. It was what a guardian did. 

* * *

One of the first things that Zeus saw the next morning was Lita cleaning everything in sight. He sneezed briefly and she glanced over at him. "I didn't know hawks could sneeze." 

"Only when we get dust up our beaks," he replied. He flapped over to an open window and took several deep breaths of the fresh air coming in from outside. He glanced behind him to see Lita shaking her head. "What?" 

"You." She smiled, then curled back up on her bed. She wore her nightgown and robe still, but had quite obviously been busy cleaning. Fresh air spilled in through the window and there were still birds singing outside. It was a beautiful morning. 

Zeus didn't know what she meant. "What? I just wanted some fresh air!" 

Lita nodded as she stared at the wall, wincing just slightly at Zeus' somewhat off-key hawk's voice humming what she guessed was supposed to be a lullaby of some kind. Once she figured he was asleep, she slowly slid out of bed and went to the shower, removing her clothes and curling up at the bottom of the spray of water, her tears mixing with the liquid as a very horrible and lonely feeling crept into her heart. She sobbed her eyes and heart out, wishing there was _some_ person she could talk to about all of this. After a few moments, she stood up and turned her cryfest into a regular shower, wanting to look at least halfway decent. As she emerged in her housecoat again, Zeus was awake and looking at her. 

"Nice outfit." He deadpanned. 

Lita barely glanced at him. "I'm not finished being dressed." She told him. As she got her various things done for dressed, Zeus glanced out the window curiously. 

"I think I see a mouse." he murmured. 

She shrugged. "Go after it then." She sighed as she dressed, and he looked over to her, wanting to know what was wrong. "I thought you were going after the mouse?" 

Zeus sighed. "Sure, don't mind me, I'm just a guardian." He grumbled as he flapped outside and grabbed some mouse-meat. He glanced back inside to see Lita fully dressed and reading on the couch. A half hour passed as he caught and devoured other things, taking pleasure in acting like his wild ancestors just for a short time. _Just hunting and feeding...not a bad life. Wonder if there are any girl hawks around here..._

Lita sighed, getting his attention again. "Where the heck is he?" She grumbled, picking up the phone and dialing a number. After a few moments, she muttered something almost acidic into the receiver and set it back down. She looked out the window, and felt a roiling her stomach as Zeus slurped down a snake. She quickly headed for the bathroom, and her guardian could hear her throwing up quite violently. 

"What?" 

Lita peered through the door at him. "That is _disgusting!_" 

He lifted his head somewhat proudly. "I'm just eating! Sorry if I'm not built to hold a knife and fork." 

"It's okay." She threw up a bit more, the sight of the snake wiggling as it made it's way into his gullet was just too much for her. Once she was done and had cleaned up the mess, she curled back up on her bed. 

Zeus watched her for a moments. Something was obviously not right with her. "Amazing." He decided to try the sarcastic approach. 

"What?" Lita peered grumpily at him. 

"You have legs and a presumably curious mind, yet you don't use them." 

She shook her head. "I called him, he wasn't home, so he's probably on his way, right? 

"Of course. You're the human, pardon me." He flapped back outside, feeling just a little bit peeved. If she was so unworried, why was she as tightly wound as a harp string? _Sure_ she was unworried...and he was a hatchling! 

Lita sighed. "I trust him when he says he'll be here." He was sitting on a tree branch and she moved over to be closer to him. " Do you always have to have things your way?" 

"I'm just an animal." Zeus stated. "I don't expect you to pay attention." 

"And if I left, and he came?" Lita tried to point out her reasoning. "He'd think that I gave up on him, now wouldn't he?" 

Zeus sighed. She was seeing only _one_ option, not everything she could do. There were more productive things than just hanging around the house all day! "Whatever you say, Lita. You know, not _everything_ revolves around the two of you." 

Lita grumbled and started cleaning again, ignoring Zeus as he stared for more food items that might come his way. She paused halfway into the cleaning to try calling Neflite again, and fought back her disappointment as the phone rang and rang without answer once more. 

A familiar harsh voice spoke, in a tone that was starting to get on her nerves. "Funny, I didn't know Neflite couldn't read." What the heck was he talking about! "Not quite what I expect of someone like him, but they do say a lot of people are illiterate." 

Lita frowned. "What?" 

"What's the intelligent thing to do if you have to go somewhere and you're expecting someone?" 

His scout still wasn't getting it. "What does that have to do with him being illiterate?" 

"Well, quite obviously, if you left him a note, you don't expect him to be able to read it, or you would look for him and leave one in case he showed up while you were gone." 

Lita felt like strangling something, though she wasn't certain if it was herself or her guardian. "Fine!" If she were going to do it, she would at _least_ salvage some dignity and do this with bad grace! She scribbled out a note and taped it to the front door, then stormed out, heading in the general direction of Neflite's place. 

She was just starting to relax and enjoy the day, another of those magnificent spring masterpieces, when she turned a corner and saw someone coming towards her that made her entire day light up. "Maxfield!" she waved, restraining her desire to call him by his real name. 

"Lita!" he waved back to her and ran over to her. He had missed her _so_ much since she had been gone the night before! He missed her when she was gone for more than a minute! 

She frowned lightly at him. "Where have you been?" 

"Out." 

"Oh." Lita didn't like the answer, but there wasn't much she could do about it really. "Okay." 

He smiled warmly at her. "Sorry for worrying you." Something he was holding was burning a hole in him, and he wanted to let her have it as soon as possible. 

"It's no problem." Lita shrugged as they walked along. "You probably have things you need to do..." she let her voice trailed off, and he smiled at her. 

"Oh, by the way, are you busy tonight?" Lita's eyes widened and she stuttered a little. He took her hand. "If not, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to dinner?" 

There was no way she could turn down the hopeful look in his eyes. "Sure!" 

His answering smile could've lit up every galaxies with it's brilliance. The two of them gazed at each other for several long minutes, oblivious to everyone around them as they held each other. Slowly Neflite brushed his lips across Lita's ear, and she glanced up at him. 

"Please don't." 

"I'm sorry." 

She smiled at him briefly. "It's okay." They held one another for a few more moments, then Lita gasped as he picked her up easily. She wasn't surprised that he carried her to her apartment and laid her on the bed. She glanced up at him with a faint frown. "We agreed..." She loved him, but she didn't want to get involved again right now. 

"I know." Neflite reassured her. "I'm not going to do anything." He smiled as he sat down near her and took her hand. He could hardly believe how much he loved her and how much she returned it. 

She leaned up briefly to kiss him on the cheek, grateful that he hadn't ran off somewhere and forgotten about her. "I love you." 

"I love you, too." She curled over to cuddle up into his lap, her arms going around her boyfriend tightly. 

"I see you found one another," Zeus approved from the window. He looked _very_ self-satisfied, as much as a hawk could, anyway. 

Lita looked at him. "Huh?" 

"Just what I said." 

"What are you talking about???" Lita wondered. She loved her guardian, but annoyance seemed to be a high factor in his makeup! 

Zeus shrugged. "You found each other. You found him and he found you." He smiled to himself as much as he could. _I **knew** she'd find him if she went out. Having eyes as good as mine helps out so much._

Neflite smiled as he hugged Lita. "We found each other." He glanced over at Lita, who was yawning. "You need to sleep." 

"I'm okay." Lita shrugged. Neflite smiled. 

"That doesn't mean you don't need to sleep," he told her. Lita smiled and cuddled up closer to him, her eyes slowly closing together. He leaned her back into her bed and pulled the covers over her, sitting back down near her and watching her sleep. 

Zeus sighed. "I have a feeling we have some bad times coming soon." 

"What?" 

"There was a sign of a new enemy." Zeus told him quietly. Neflite sighed, using a few words he had picked up from Beryl. The hawk was quick to reassure him. "I could be wrong!" 

The ex-general sighed. "Let's hope you are." He gazed for several minutes at Lita, then Zeus cleared his throat. 

"Come back when it's time for dinner," the hawk told him. "You need to get ready." He watched approvingly at Neflite kissed Lita lightly on the forehead, then headed out. Hopefully things were going to be better from now on. 

Perhaps an hour later, a banging interrupted both the light nap Zeus had fallen into, and Lita's rest. The hawk flapped to the peephole, trying to look through, and heard Serena's voice from the other side. "Lita! We're needed!" 

"Leave her alone," Zeus shouted. She needed her sleep, badly! 

Serena called back, "It's the Scouts that are needed, Zeus!" She sounded desperate! 

"Do you want her to fall asleep in the middle of the fight?" 

"Is she okay?" Serena didn't want to something that would hurt one of her friends! If they _had_ to they could go on without her... 

Lita opened the door, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Zeus hadn't even seen her coming up. "I didn't sleep last night." She said flatly. 

"We've got a fight downtown," Serena burst out. "The others are doing what they can." 

"I'll try," Lita bit her lip, knowing that the happiness she'd had was ruined now. "But I'm not promising anything." 

* * *

As the creature melted away in a wave of Sailor Moon's power, Lita quietly let her uniform fade away, going back up to her room without even looking back once at the others. Zeus had waited for her, and now watched as she slowly wrote out a letter. Once she was done, she turned to him. 

"Please give this to Neflite," she asked quietly. Zeus nodded quickly, picking it up in his beak and soaring over to the mansion. Neflite was sitting outside, and greeted him as the hawk landed before him. 

"What is this?" Neflite had never before seen Zeus delivering mail! "Oh, it's from Lita!" He smiled as he cracked it open, a smile that faded quickly away as he read the letter. 

_My dearest, I am sorry to tell you that our promise must now be called into affect. I cannot see you for awhile. I pray that this is not long for I will miss you with all my heart. All my love, Lita._

Neflite stared at the letter in shock, hardly able to believe what he was reading. Slowly he whispered the letter out loud, and Zeus stared. He had known, better than they, what the consequences of a new attack could be, but he had had _no_ idea that they were going to be taking it quite this hard! 

Zeus flew away to talk with Lita, leaving Neflite behind to stare at the scrap of paper. Something else caught his eye, and he picked the letter up again. _P.S. I can try and sneak to see you one last time._

* * *

Serena held Lita's hand tightly. "Maybe it's not a new enemy," she hoped. She and the others had come to try and cheer Lita up some, they knew what she was going through right now. "It could've been some wandering monster that we didn't get from someone else." 

"Serena," Lita sighed. "Thanks for trying, but I doubt that's it." 

The young blonde shrugged. "We don't know." She wanted to look on the bright side if there was one, and Lita just kept getting more and more depressed! This was a part of her Serena hadn't ever seen, and she wasn't all that positive that she liked it. _You'd think the most important thing in the universe was the fact she and Neflite can't be together for a little while...**not** that we're going to be risking our lives again!_

"Let's see...what evidence do we have? The strange thing that happened in the sky that Zeus saw earlier. The jewel that was left behind from it's death...or that annoying laughter we heard during the fight that wasn't from the monster?" 

Serena felt an unaccustomed rage rising in her. "Are you back from your pity trip yet?" This wasn't the Lita she knew! And she wanted that Lita back _now_! 

"At least you get to stay with Darien!" Lita hissed, staring at a picture of herself and Neflite. Serena stood for a moment, then her eyes went full of anger. 

"Give me your wand." 

Dead silence reined. Serena looked absolutely firm, her hand held out sharply. Mina shook her head. "Serena, you can't be serious, we need her!" 

"We need a Sailor Jupiter." Serena stated, keeping a waver out of her voice somehow. "Molly should be able to do the job." 

"Molly doesn't have Lita's skills! We need her experience!" 

Serena delivered a calm look to the warrior of Venus. "Do we need someone who is going to be too busy crying because she can't be with her boyfriend?" 

"And exactly how were _you_ when Beryl took Darien?" Mina asked sharply, remembering how she'd got Serena out of that funk. 

The Moon Princess was firm. She would never have dared do this a few months ago, but she knew rather firmly now that sometimes you _had_ to be firm or you were walked on like a doormat. "I got out of it. I worked to get him back. I didn't give up and whine like a brat!" 

"I know when I'm not wanted, Mina." Lita said suddenly, putting the wand in Serena's outstretched hand. "And I'm not wanted as a Scout." 

Serena closed her hand around it. "You aren't _being_ a Scout. What went through your mind when you found out there could be a new enemy? _I have to protect and help the rest of my team and the world_ or _Now I have to break my date with Neflite._?" 

"Serena, one favor, though." 

"Answer me!" Serena growled, a sound _none_ of them had heard her make before. She was obviously not a very happy princess right now. 

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out." Lita continued as if Serena hadn't spoke a single word. 

The blonde drew herself up quietly. "I can see why your father on Jupiter didn't want you to be with Neflite. You're too busy thinking about your own selfish pleasure instead of the good of the team." She turned around and headed out. 

"Up yours, Princess." Lita said harshly, then looked to the others, "You can leave too." 

"Don't call me that." Serena retorted. "Only someone who cares can call me that." She practically slammed the door behind her, ignoring the others as they left too. 

Zeus spoke from where he had landed during the fight and watched it all. "Then I leave too." 

"Do you have to?" 

"Yes." Zeus replied just as calmly as he could. He had _never_ seen any of them acting like this before! If he hadn't known better, he'd have thought they were all under spells of some kind! "Before I'm thrown out." 

Lita shook her head. "I'm not going to throw you out. Or ask you to leave." 

"Why not? You just did it to your best friends." 

Everything was quiet for several minutes, then Lita sighed. "Can you take me to Jupiter?" She wanted to know. He tilted his head, a question in his eyes. "I just feel like I have to go there." 

He watched her for a moment, then with a flicker of his wings, they were both on Jupiter. Lita glanced around for a moment, happy times and glorious days spilling back into her memory. She saw the statue of the Queen, and threw her arms around it, tears falling ceaselessly. She might've stayed like that forever, had she not felt arms going around her and looked up to see the face of the Queen. 

"Hello." She said softly. Lita knew the face, it was that of her mother! Not just her mother _then_, back in the Silver Millennium, but her mother as she had been on earth. 

"M..mother?" She whispered. The Queen nodded, and Lita leaned into her, crying again, with this time the tears bringing peace in their wake. Slowly she sobbed out the entire story of everything had had gone on since the moment of her reincarnation up until her return to Jupiter moments earlier. It felt good to relive it all, to feel _cleansed._

"Were you living up fully to your Scout duties and did you intend to keep on doing so?" 

Lita nodded. "Yes, I'd sent a letter to Neflite telling him that although I still loved him, I couldn't be with him for a while, till this new enemy was gone." 

"And how were you conducting yourself with the others?" 

"I fought, even with an hour and a half of sleep. Which is probably why I'm so moody." 

The Queen nodded. "And afterwards?" 

"I got mad." Lita admitted. "Over her asking for my powers back because I realized that I had just broken my own heart." She thought the queen said something, but didn't hear as a floodgate opened within in her. "And she's allowed to be moody over losing Darien when Queen Beryl got him and I'm not allowed to be moody over losing my own boyfriend?!" 

"Lita." The Queen touched her shoulder gently. "Would you have been able to keep your mind on the battles if you were worried over Neflite?" 

"I have before." 

The Queen nodded. "Do you think that you could have this time?" 

"Yes. With a little more sleep, I would've been able to." 

Her mother smiled softly. She _thought_ she had an idea, but it might not be workable. "And if you had not lost him?" 

"The law clearly states that if there is an enemy to fight, then I can't be with him." Lita sighed, remembering everything they'd gone through with Zeus about this. 

"The rules say that you cannot date, marry, or indulge in physical activity, correct? Do they specify you cannot fight beside someone?" The queen might well have solved the matter herself, if an imperious bellow hadn't sounded. Neither had noticed the wave of life spreading out from the Queen, waking up the entire planet and bringing it back to life. 

From the throne room came the king's voice, as he overheard their talk. "Call the princess of the moon here _now!_ Wife, please take Lita and get her into something more presentable for a princess of Jupiter." 

The Queen nodded, recognizing the fact he was going to be putting his nose into something that could very well be none of his business: again. _But that's what he does. This will be solved now with imperious decrees and commands instead of common sense and compassion._ Silently she led Lita away. 

A few minutes later, all the Scouts, along with Darien, entered the throne room. It had been a long time since any of them had been there, but Serena remembered her protocol sketchily. She stood in the forefront, Darien just to one side, the others behind her. "I understand you have the Jupiter wand?" The king stated. 

"Yes." Serena's response was as calm as ice. 

"I wish it back." 

"Why?" 

The king frowned. "Because only I have the authority to remove the Senshi of Jupiter!" 

Serena didn't look thrilled. "And when the Scout is too concerned over her boyfriend than what she's supposed to be doing?" 

"I didn't let it interfere with my duties!" Lita declared as she and the Queen emerged. "It was only _after_ the fight that I cried over it!" 

The lunar warrior said nothing, only looked at the king. "That is of no concern right now. You do not have the authority to remove my daughter as a scout." 

"So, despite the fact I'm the leader, I have no say in this?" Serena's voice held an edge that those who remembered her mother found very familiar, and almost dangerous. Luna had never felt prouder of her right then. Perhaps _what_ she was doing wasn't so right, but the _way_ she was doing it was pure Moon royalty. 

"You have a say. You just bring it to me with enough evidence showing that Lita let someone get hurt due to her overconcern for this young man and I'll weigh the evidence." 

The princess shook her head. "I'm trying to make certain no one gets hurt in the first place!" 

"Was anyone hurt?" 

Serena flushed with anger; she would get more response out of a brick wall than these thick-headed Jovians! She pulled the wand out of where she was keeping it and threw it at the king. "You're just alike! You don't listen to anyone but yourselves!" 

"Can you honestly say that you don't trust her anymore, but you _would_ trust her sister, who has no fighting skills whatsoever?" 

Darien put a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder, trying to soothe her shattered nerves. "You aren't listening to him, either, Serena." 

"You make whatever decision you think is right. All I'm good for is blasting the monsters is seems. I'm not supposed to take charge or make a decision, despite the fact I know more about what's been going on than you do!" She turned around and stormed out. 

"You're doing the same thing they are!" Darien shouted after her. "You're not listening to anyone!" He sighed, sensing her departure back to Earth with the others. "Maybe I'll see you around." 

Once back on his world, the young prince sighed and sat out on his balcony, wondering just what was going on. He'd _never_ seen Serena this angry, or any of the other things that were going on. He was starting to wonder if he'd somehow walked into an alternate universe, when a gentle hand touched his shoulder and he looked up to see Serena there, evidence of tears in her eyes. "Did you make up with Lita?" 

"Not yet." 

"Are you going to?" 

She nodded. "If I can. I don't know if she wants to, though." Serena was actually trembling, and Darien realized just how much all of this had to have cost her emotionally. Serena didn't _like_ getting angry or hurting someone, especially someone as close to her as the Sailors were. Even if she thought she had a reason, she didn't like it happening. "I'm going to try, though." She promised herself and him. 

Darien held Serena close to him, enjoying the feel of her in his arms. "Think of how you would feel if it were you who couldn't be with me because of an enemy. I know I'd hate it." 

"I already know how I'd feel." She remembered. "I've been through it before." 

The two of them held each other quietly, until Serena jumped a little, staring at the Wand of Jupiter that had appeared in her hand. Darien looked at it, then her. "Your call." 

"I don't know." Serena sighed. She wanted to make up with Lita, but she was also trying to think out for the group in general. Yes, Lita was more experienced than Molly, but Lita was also distracted right now. Maybe just for a little while Molly could hold the power... 

"Go talk to her." Darien suggested. "She went back to her apartment." 

Serena sighed. She had nothing to lose by trying. 

* * *

Lita grumbled some very unusual words as she swung the door open at the sound of a knock and saw Serena there. "What do you want?" The blonde simply held the wand out to her mutely, and Lita frowned. "I don't fight with people who don't trust me." She started to slam the door. 

"If you don't want to listen, I can't make you. Now I see why the Silver Millennium was destroyed. Maybe Beryl wasn't the evil one after all." 

Lita jerked the door open again. "You made yourself loud and clear and don't you go _trying_ to pin that on me or any of the other Scouts! We fought trying to save _you!_" 

"Oh, I see." Serena looked directly at her. "Apology doesn't exist in your vocabulary. I don't have the 'right' to decide who I fight with." She started away, ducking slightly as the wand flew by her. 

"I can't fight even if I wanted to!" Lita almost shouted, her eyes burning with fury at this. 

Serena snorted. "Of course. You can't see your precious boyfriend if you do." She had _tried_, but apparently all Lita wanted to do was be angry! 

"I'm pregnant." 

Serena paused, then turned around and looked at her, walking back. She took the taller scout by surprise with a harsh slap cross the fact. "I was _going_ to apologize but I don't think I ever want to see you anymore." 

Lita stared as Serena turned around again and started away. She had hoped that would soften her friend's usually tender heart, but perhaps she didn't know the girl as well as she thought she had. "I'm sorry..." 

"If you wanted to quit, you don't have to lie about something like that!" Serena paused and looked behind her, still furious. How _could_ Lita do that?? 

"I'm not lying." 

The princess shook her head. "Why should I believe you? You don't believe me." She was about to step away, then looked back. "You know, not just anyone helps someone bring their true love back to life." 

Lita and Serena looked at each other for a few moments, then found the enmity that had sprouted between them was suddenly gone, washed away in the unending light of their love and friendship for each other, never to return. 

"I'm sorry for not believing you." Lita whispered softly. "I don't know what I'm going to do." 

Serena considered something. "Well, you could....oh, no, you wouldn't want to do that." 

"What?" 

Serena smiled a little. "It' just a thought, but you could...oh, I don't know, have your kid and be with your friends and Neflite, and marry him when you're eighteen? That's just a thought, though." 

Lita smiled. "I wonder if my father would still let me fight after the baby is born." 

"If it's necessary." Serena smiled. "We could destroy this new enemy tomorrow and you won't have to worry about it." 

The Jovian maiden smiled quickly. "Leave me _no_ fun, would you?" 

"We'll save the head of the bad guy just for you!" Serena promised with a giggle. Lita felt herself feeling better already, just from the sound of her friend's laughter. 

"Just his head?" 

Serena grinned back at her. "Okay! Any other body parts you'd like?" 

"Nah, just you guys back in one piece." Lita asked, and Serena agreed. That was rather high on her list of priorities after all. "And don't tell the others, please." She motioned briefly towards her stomach, indicating what she didn't want them to know. Serena nodded as she wrapped her arms around her friend and gave her a warm, fuzzy, cheery, happy, loving Serena-type hug, that wiped away the last of the darkness between them. 

"I love you, Lita. You're like a big sister. Only better!" Serena smiled. She had never felt so close to her friend as she did right now, and the thought of a miniature Scout running around zapping people was kind of funny, even if Lita was young. _Young in years, not in the heart._ All of the Scouts were far, far, older than they appeared to be on the outside. 

Lita smiled briefly. "I have things that I need to get done." She said. Serena nodded. 

"If we can help, let us know okay?" Serena offered. Lita nodded and gave her friend another hug. She knew with the other Scouts and Neflite, and now the people of Jupiter, with her, everything was going to be just fine. 

**To Be Continued**


End file.
